Frosh Poets are Published
[more award winners >>>]
Freshmen Gorgi Popstefanov and Dan Josephson, with their English teacher John Pascal, were published in "Celebrate, Young Poets". [original story] German Language Students Honored The American Asssociation of Teachers of German [AATG]  have again recognized the outstanding achievement of a number of Prep German
students on their national standardized test. Sophomores Sebastian Contratti and Jon Taddeo, Junior Ekuike Falorca and Senior
Laurence Tai received NJAATG certificates and silver medallions. Laurence Tai's performance again garnered him a selection to the national
competition for seniors; he participated in the grueling interview process, but was not among the five national Study-Trip Abroad winners. He will be recognized with a memento by the German
government. [right: Tai, Falorca]Their teacher is
Rev. Joseph Wortmann, SHP Alumnus of the Year in 2000, and about to retire this June after a career that began at SHP in 1958. Prep Freshmen Selected as Finalists in NJ Poetry Contest
Dan Josephson and Gorgi Popstefanov, both English I students in Mr. John Pascal's class, were named as finalists in the contest sponsored by Creative Communication, Inc., and will be published in their
anthology "A Celebration of Young Poets" . They continue to elegible for prize money from the contest. Thousands of entries had been received by the Utah based company and most were not chosen for
publication. The inclusion of the Prep students' poems represents a lot of talent, hard work and dedication on their part and that of their teacher. Dan's poem was inspired by the PBS Ken Burns documentary "Jazz",
Dan Josephson
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which he enjoyed with his jazz-fan father.The Cotton Club on Fire
Strident echoes of doors slamming, excessive laughter, and cheerful
conversations fill the room.
flashes of neon, the odor of illegal brandy, and strong clouds of smoke
circle the scene.
Shimmering wads of bills are exposed here and there, men revealing their
cash with pride and arrogance.
The ladies are primping, ensuring their glamorous looks for the evening's
show.
There will be a lot of dancing, as always, and the gals are ready for it.
The crowd is just fitting in the building now, and it is packed tight.
Pushing and shoving, rearranging tables, a couple of cheap shots here and
there, anything will be done to get into this crazy gig!
Ignoring the distractions, the musicians get ready behind stage, ready to
please these hungry, anxious fans.
Testing all instruments, they want to make sure everything is just right and
ready to go.
They try to ease the tension by getting a little laid back conversation
going, to get a chuckle on and feel relaxed.
They smoke their cigarettes, stroke the comb through their hair once more,
wash their faces, and step out onto the stage.
This is it, this is the big show, where the participants, who fought all night
to get in there, expect something great, something extraordinary.
To get quickly into the groove, they cut off and hit it.
A jazzy tune erupts from the front, forcing everybody off their feet,
driving them into a trance of be-bop, as they are uncontrollably dancing.
No one can stop, for they have waited for this, and are now stuck in it!
The scene is steaming now, energy flowing throughout this musical
Atmosphere.
The spirit of the roaring twenties is alive unlimited in the Cotton Club
tonight, as if it were to carry on forever.
—Daniel Josephson Grade 9
My Old Sweater
I wear it like an old sweater
Gorgi Popstefanov
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it sleeves around me
it gives warmth and comfort.
The worn spots don't matter
the tears I sew together.
They are threads broken
at the seams
but they hang on
they still keep the cold
from seeping through.
The color is faded, but
I don't expect anything more
than the familiar feel, its fresh spring scent.
There's no need for it to be better than that
I can't expect anything more.
It has always been there,
always for me.
As its been and will always be
Nothing more…
its good enough for me.
—
Gorgi Popstefanov - Grade 9
Academic Team Scores at Beachball Classic
[see story] The Prep in Stock Market Spotlight
[June 2001] Seton Hall Prep recently won the High School and the Grand Championship in the New
Jersey Stock Market Game, sponsored by SMG Worldwide, an on-line stock market game. The team of seniors Greg DeTrolio (Union resident), Joseph Martinez (So. Orange) and Peter Bremberg (Short Hills)
along with their adviser, Economics teacher Thomas Esposito, will be honored on June 22 at the Stock Market Game Worldwide Awards Ceremony at USB Paine Webber.
Over 10,000 students on 1168 teams participated in four divisions: Elementary, Junior High, High School, and College/Adult. As Grand Champions, the Prep's team not only took the top spot among all
high school teams, but also among the combined divisions. Their winning portfolio turned $100,000 into $234,137 in ten weeks, $85,000 in front of the second place team.
The Prep also had the third place team in the high school division: Frank Taranto, Michael DeSantis and Cole Fischer, and the seventh place team: Ben Bouchoux, Sherod Gillis and Anthony Urban.
The Stock Market Game has been a big hit at the Prep since the West Orange school began competing in it 14 years ago. This marks the third time the Prep team has taken the top prize among high school teams.
Adviser Esposito remarked, "The SMG helps students develop organizational, research, critical thinking, economic and team-working skills. It's much easier to understand the impact of monetary
and fiscal policy when you have $100,000 invested in the market." DeTrolio recalled, "The game began just as the market started a month-long slide, so, like everyone
else, we started off with some heavy losses. We knew that if we wanted to make any money in such bad conditions, we would have to make it quickly, by taking chances on relatively cheap stocks." He
also noted that they were lucky enough to have invested in two companies when each released information that it would beat its estimated first quarter earnings. Laurence Tai '02 honored by German Government  Laurence Tai
was among the eleven finalists in northern New Jersey in a competition sponsored by the AATG-PAD
[American Association of Teachers of German-Padagogischer Austauschdienst] in their program of competition for Travel-Study Grants. In the National German Exam, a
standardized test administered to 22,600 students of German in all parts of the country, Tai scored 788 out of 800, placing him in the 99th percentile. His inclusion in the interview
phases of the competition [conducted in German] placed him among the top eleven out of 750 students of German from 30 high schools in the state. For making it to the final round of
competition Tai received a book award from the Federal Republic of Germany.His teacher is Rev. Joseph Wortmann '50. A number of
students in recent years from among Fr. Wortmann's classes have been honored by this and similar programs. Junior Ekuike Falorca is currently in Germany after his top place in the competition for the
Congress-Bundestag Exchange Program. He followed in the footsteps of Will O'Connor, who won a similar year abroad just a few years prior. A 1995 graduate of the Prep, Dave
Bober, won the top award in the national competition sponsored by Daimler-Benz. He followed on the top performance in the same competition by Raymond Escorpizo, Class of 1993.
LT's Hot streak continues—
Laurence received another prestigious honor at the end of May, as he received an award for his first place finish in the Catholic Conference Math League. He was the only student out of 500 math honor
students to have 4 consecutive perfect papers. The league hosts over 40 schools from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
LT's Math teacher is Joseph Boland, of East Hanover.He is currently the top student in the junior class at Seton Hall and was recently among the 14 Forensics Team members to qualify for the National Catholic Forensics League National Tournament,
held over the Memorial Day Weekend at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. He was among the trophy winners in Extemporaneous Speaking .The Prep team was awarded a "Top 5 Founders' Trophy" at the
national venue, the first time for any New Jersey school. 
- For the Forensics Team's extraordinary performance
at the Nationals [ go]
- For news about the Academic Quiz Team
[go]
- For extraordinary academic projects
[go]
- For Electives in Action
[go]
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