pARTners' Exhibition at Concordia College Art Gallery

The exhibition, "America the Beautiful" showcased original work by Ms. de Rham's Global Crafts students alongside Tuckahoe and Bronxville students. They recently presented an in-person opening that took place May 20th for the Eastchester community. The show ran through June 5th.

The National Park System encompasses 423 national park sites in the United States. They span across more than 84 million acres, with parks in each state while also extending into the territories of Puerto Rico and The Virgin Islands. To celebrate America the Beautiful students in Global Crafts at Eastchester High School highlighted the animals and plants that grow in these magnificent parks all throughout the country. Students researched a variety of National Parks from the rocky terrain of the Grand Canyon to the lush swamplands of the Everglades Park in Florida. We utilized a modern day printmaking technique inspired by traditional William Morris prints from the 19th century. William Morris was an English textile designer who was influenced by medieval architecture, patterns and native English plants. He is well known for his block print wallpaper. Students at Eastchester utilized Morris’s symmetrical and organic layouts to produce a unique work of art inspired by the National Parks here in the United States. Look closely at the prints to find various plants and animals within the patterned designs.

global crafts

Last year, Ms. de Rham's global crafts class was unable to complete this project because of the Pandemic, but they were very happy to have the opportunity to complete it this year. Her students studied the history of kites, particularly Malaysian and Chinese kites, designs and patterns. Students assembled their kites and worked diligently, hand carving their linoleum blocks which they printed in a pattern on their kites. The result was a beautiful contrast between warm and cool colors and geometric and organic shapes inspired by traditional kite making. The perfect combination of sun and wind blessed their grand finale when they tested the kites to see if they flew and it was a huge success!

Poetry Club

• On April 15th, the Poetry Club attended a virtual open mic, sponsored by the Sarah Lawrence Writers' Institute.

• On April 19th, the club also participated in Penguin Publishing's YALL West Virtual Poetry Workshop. Poets Mahogany Browne, Safia Elhillo, and Candice ILOH shared their poetry, inspiration, processes, and they answered student questions, including Khushbu Dulani's.

• On May 7th, the Poetry Club met with EHS graduate and playwright, Javier Rivera-DeBruin for ourWriters in Discussion Series, Event #2. The club's poets asked Javi questions about processes, subject matter, style, and personal experiences negotiating the theatre world.

a Fond farewell to John Gwardyak and Karen zambelli

EHS Players Club Reopens Live Theater in New York:

The Players Club became one of the first high school theaters in not only Westchester, but the State of New York to bring back a live onstage performance indoors in front of an audience.

Coming directly off “Shorts in The Winter” their streaming production, and with only 26 rehearsals, the club presented a flawless performance of “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”.

While Players Club shows normally feature a cast and crew of over 100, COVID restrictions limited that number to 20. The club incorporated the pandemic into the production and result was a unique socially distanced performance.

Tickets were only available online via an innovative ticketing program which automatically socially distanced the audience. The club also extended its streak of sold out musicals as tickets to three of the four performances were snapped up almost immediately.

Director, John Gwardyak, Choreographer Karen Zambelli and Musical Director Todd Beaney could not think of a better end to their Career with the Players Club, than being a part of the performance of these 20 amazing students.

Thank you John and Karen for all of the wonderful years heading Players Club and JazzCo.!

Mrs. Bohringer/Ms. Molinari's US History classes and "May Madness"

Students in Mrs. Bohringer/Ms. Molinari's US History classes completed a "May Madness" project to determine the most influential event in US History. It was a breath of fresh air for students after months of working solo, to work in groups, have autonomy to choose, and to use their creativity. Students categorized significant events in US History into thematic concepts derived from popular culture, (Godzilla, Taylor Swift, Gossip Girl, Superheroes) gathered information, created a bracket (ala NCAA March Madness) and determined a winner through debate and discussion within their groups.

Some projects of note were:

Isabel P. / Clare C. / Leena L. / Dean D. -Taylor Swift Alexa P. - The Jungle

Luca S. - Godzilla Ariana F. / Silvana F. / Dyhana M. / Kaitlin N. - Gossip Girl

Kenta / Lis / Christo - Superheroes

student spotlight: Ava Tsapatsaris, ASR Research at the genius Olympiad

On June 12th, Ava Tsapatsaris participated in the Genius Olympiad. The Genius Olympiad is an international science competition that includes projects from 85 countries. Ava was one of thirteen students from Westchester County nominated to participate and presented her research on Project ScanVan: Mobile mammography services to decrease socioeconomic barriers and racial disparities among medically underserved women in NYC. Her research studied barriers to breast cancer screening faced by underserved women – barriers include but not limited to lack of health insurance, transportation to screening a location and citizenship. Additionally, her research also investigates solutions to help women manage these barriers. Ava analyzed the Project ScanVan patient population in order to determine if is able to help women manage barriers to breast cancer screening.

At the Genius Olympiad, Ava earned the Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is awarded to the top 10% of the participants. Ava's goal for the future is not only to be a physician, but to return to EHS to mentor future ASR students.

Relay for Life 2021

The 2021 Relay for Life event that took place on May 15th was quite a success! Students from all across EHS were able to participate. The event to raise money for the American Cancer Society had an amazing turnout this year with both an online and in-person presence. The in-person group allowed for students and participants to socially distance themselves in lawn chairs in the Lake Isle parking lot where they could view and participate in the event.

The night featured pre-recorded and live performances from groups such as Tri-M, the Poetry Club and members of the EHS Chorus. There was also a live performance from Hendry Sylvester McNamara Irish Dance and a recorded showing of Jazz Co.’s senior dance. Additionally, there was a virtual luminaria ceremony slideshow played at the end of the night that was created by the National Junior Honor Society.

Furthermore, EHS Cares teams were extremely successful in their fundraising efforts. Kim-Koutsis/Wahab raised $1,023, Heather Reilly raised $745, and Tiso raised $525.

EGO

Read Aloud 2021

This February, EGO held its annual Read Aloud event. A Read-Aloud is a day where EGO officers visit and read to the kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at Waverly Elementary School. Every year the students are always excited to have high school visitors stop by. For most EGO officers, it's nostalgic going back to their former classrooms years later and getting to be the big kid in the room. This year's book, My Very Favorite Book In The Whole Wide World, by Malcolm Mitchell, was a favorite amongst the students. Even though it was virtual this year, everyone still had lots of fun. EGO looks forward to doing more in the years to come!

(Mrs. Kenny may have pictures from the event)

February Blood Drive 2021

On February 24th, EGO partnered with Red Cross to host a Spring Blood Drive at the American Legion Hall in Scarsdale. With the pandemic still going on, there is a high demand for blood donations, unlike any other year. With the age requirement being 16 years or older, many Eastchester students were encouraged to sign-up and help save lives. As a result, the Drive had 58 donors registered, 52 units of blood collected, and potentially impacting 158 lives! EGO wants to thank everyone who took the time to donate and be a part of another successful event!

Animal Rights Club

On April 17th, the Animal Rights Club made a donation to the SPCA of Westchester from the money collected during the, "Winter WonderPaws Fundraiser". The fundraiser yielded $200 in donations that went towards: pet food, cat toys, leashes, chew toys, training pads, and canned food. Thank you to everyone who donated! These items go a long way towards making the lives of these animals better!

EHS PRIDE 2021

On Wednesday, June 16th the GSA celebrated EHS Pride with a multicolored event outside of the high school's entrance. The event made the school come alive with the colors of pride! The club, along with other teachers and students, used multi-colored chalk to make their own rainbow out front and wrote positive affirmations such as, “You belong,” “You matter,” and “Everyone deserves to be happy”, as well as other powerful messages of inclusion.

ehs teacher appreciation week

The PTA and the ArT Honor Society partnered to create the, "Thank a Teacher Board" during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 3-7). The Art Honor Society decorated the border for the board, to demonstrate the special connection to the teachers at EHS and the PTA. Throughout the week, students wrote thank you notes on various papers and pinned them to the board. The board continued to grow with praises as the week went on.

FULL ORCHESTRA VIRTUAL CONCERT

Over the winter months, the Full Orchestra worked diligently to put together their first virtual concert, and they did not fail to disappoint! After weeks of Google meet rehearsals and a great deal of practicing, the orchestra recorded themselves performing, "The Magic of Harry Potter", arranged by Michael Story. With the help of Mr. Dodge the Orchestra was able to mix the audio together to create their final product! Also, one of their very own violinists, Emma Rincones-Parra, created the video artwork herself. Throughout the piece you can also hear three solos performed by three of their senior violinists, Kyoko Saito, Viviana Diaz, and Emma Keegan. Ms. Odierna's pride and effort is apparent throughout the piece and truly demonstrated how amazing this group of musicians are and how much effort they put into this project!!

Winter Virtual Concert

Full Orchestra 2021

♫ The Magic of Harry Potter .........................................................................arranged by Michael Story

Violin solos performed by Kyoko Saito, Viviana Diaz and Emma Keegan

Artwork by Emma Rincones-Parra

Violin 1

Jiwoo Hwang Emma Keegan Christina Kim Kyoko Saito* Chloe Shi Yeonsu Son

Violin 2

Joseph Allen JoAnna Campbell Jocelyn Chen Viviana Diaz* Marie Nakajima Emma Rincones-Parra Yoshi Sato

Viola

Sarah Lee

Cello

Amelia Chen Wesley Miller*

Flute

Sarah Lavis Maya Morito Miki Sato

Clarinet

Kate Kim Soo Jung Lee Sakura Yamazaki

French Horn

Benjamin Wien

Trumpet

Nicholas Cozza Ava Pennachio

Trombone

Benjamin Araujo Michael Fang* Taichi Ito

Tuba

Rico-ian Banting*

Percussion

Theodore Jeliazkov Gunnar Moen Erin Murphy Matthew Sinanis

*Designates member of Leadership Team

A night for wise showcase

204 Seniors participated in the WISE Program this year. Students completed internships in a wide range of fields ranging from STEM, education, retail, business, the trades, etc. The WISE Showcase gave students an opportunity to present and share about their experiences in the WISE Program. Remote students submitted a video presentation. It was a beautiful night celebrating the achievements of the WISE students.

Cleaning the Bronx River with Going Green Club

Going Green has partnered with Westchester Parks Foundation Clean River Project. This spring and fall Going Green continues their project to clean the Bronx River at the boom by Crestwood Train Station.

This program addresses floatable trash, one of the three major water quality issues on the Bronx River. Going Green volunteers participate in real science, through hands-on experiences. The information we will collect helps find the sources and stops trash from entering the river in the first place. The project promotes outreach to local businesses whose products end up in and along the river, especially uniting messaging around the harm to our waterways caused by non-biodegradable products.