News 1-3 CURTIS LOG Volume Curtis CV, Issue II

opens November without 2011 power

by: ninaad At exactly Dave and 4:28pm Nicole Clemons

Wednes-

but soon realized it was building

spokeswoman for Con Edison,

to keep a school open without

of the decision to keep Cur- day December 7th, Curtis High

wide outage. Practicing for the

Joy Faber, the problem seemed to

any heat or electricity, Chancel-

tis open, Feinberg responded, School, The Richmond Terrace

Pajama Game just a day before its

be with the electrical feeders. Con

lor Dennis Walcott’s press secre-

“There was partial power and Houses and the Cassidy Lafay-

debut, Nicole Ayalla, freshman,

Edison workers tried to fix the

tary Marge Feinberg said “Con

Con Ed provided a generator.” ette Houses experienced a black-

had to evacuate without her be-

problem overnight. When power

Ed had a generator on site and

In a final attempt to get infor- out. Left in the dark, an emer-

longings into the stormy weather.

could not be restored in time, a

in consultation with the princi-

mation, the following email gency evacuation was quickly

With the lights off, students were

generator was brought in. “ Since

pal, the school remains open.” In

was sent: I’m sorry to keep ask- ordered for Curtis High School.

not allowed to retrieve their be-

our school wasn’t the only build-

a request to clarify her statement

ing you questions but I really A swim meet, a play

longings “I left my book bag and

ing that experienced a blackout, rehearsal a basketball game,

clothes in the auditorium so now

the apartment complexes in the pm school and club meetings

I’m forced to wear my costume,”

neighborhood were given priority were immediately canceled.“was

continued Ayalla. Eventually the

to have their electricity restored,” watching the game [girls varsity

students were escorted back in to

said Assistant Principal Pete Dev- basketball]and then the lights

the darkened building to retrieve

lin. Faber went on to predict that flickered leaving us in the dark.

their belongings.

the school’s power would be re- Screams pierced the air and it

The only part of the

stored by noon. became chaotic as we tried to get

school with any electricity was

Despite this prediction through the exits. No one knew

the pool. Ms. Boylan the MSIT

of a noon restoration of power what was going on or if it was

coach joked, “I think my com-

and an in place evacuation plan, temporary,” said Jon Grogan, ju-

petitors were happy that the meet

the Chancellor ordered the school nior.

was cancelled. Thanks to the new

to stay open. With a lack of power Joe Gerhek, senior,

renovations to the natatorium,

till 1PM, students were kept in a who was in the auditorium ini-

the emergency lights kept us

building without heat, and the tially thought it was just a light-

out of complete darkness.” said

only lighting was in the over- ing problem in the auditorium

Boylan.

crowded student cafeteria. When Select students

According to the

asked to comment on the decision

and teachers travels to Israel American-Israel Friendship League sponsered a three week trip for select students

By: Shannon Raymond and Shawn Reilly

“It was the trip of a lifetime,” said Ms. Christine Ga- worecki on her recent journey to Israel. On November 20th, three female students and two Cur- tis teachers set out to what was going to be a ten hour flight to Jerusalem, a trip sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League, in which an effort is made to strengthen the ties between Is- rael and the United States. Skye Wright, Rachel Aigen, and Su- sannah Dolinar were all accepted applicants to the program. Once they received their acceptance letters, they began their prepara- tions for their trip.

The girls, advised by Ms. Gaworecki and Ms. Urso, were able to experience many aspects of Jerusalem. Once they arrived, they were in complete awe. “It was beautiful and ancient,” said Su- sannah Dolinar of Jerusalem, the first city they visited. They visited monumental sights such as the Masada, a “fortress” overlooking the Dead Sea, as well as the Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. The group saw dancing in front of the Wailing Wall in celebration

of the Sabbath. These upbeat and exciting activities helped distract from the somewhat nerve-wrack- ing atmosphere, complete with armed guards.

“It was not uncommon to find soldiers patrolling. Two, three, four soldiers together, in full uniform, armed with machine guns,” commented Gaworecki. “Even when we visited the sa- cred city of Jerusalem, we had an armed guard with us.” During her travels, Gaworecki found the soldiers unnerving, but didn’t feel threatened. “It was peaceful,” she said. “I can’t say I wasn’t nervous, but it was just precautionary.” The soldiers would come onto buses, and other common places. After a quick check, they would leave, and the people would go back to their regular lives. In Israel, every- one goes straight into

Skye Wright, Susannah Dolinar, and Rachel Aigen at a beach in Israel.

Cancer Awareness

Page 4

The journalism staff using a flashlight app on an ipad to light room 322 after the power went out during a meeting. XC wins city champs Girls’ varsity cross country edges Port Richmond to secure city title. By: Katie Madden and Kailey Walters

Revenge felt both beau- tiful and powerful. After losing to Port Richmond last year, the Curtis Warriors were determined to take home the championship, and that they did.

On November 12th, a cold Saturday morning at Van Cortlandt Park, the girls edged out Port Richmond High School to win their fourth City Champi-

onship in six years.

Teeming with mounted tension and barely containable excitement, the Lady Warriors prepared for their 5k race. With the knowledge that their rival team, Port Richmond, had been undefeated in the previous sea- son, the Warriors were deter- mined to show their A game. In the end, their best proved to be enough to land them a first place finish. “I didn’t believe it because we had to pull out the fourth girl, Henriquez, since she was hurt,” said Coach Joe Sicilian.

In cross country, the score is determined by the places of the top five runners from each

school. Placing eighth out of 137 with a time of 20 minutes and 31 seconds, junior Corinne Birchard finished first for Curtis.“To win was just amazing,” said Birchard, “it was a total team effort.” The last two years racing against Port Richmond had been very close. Thanks to the teamwork of the Lady Warriors, Curtis pulled through. With the runners’ de- termination, Curtis managed to get four girls, junior Corinne Birchard, sophomore Anna Clair Piersiak, junior Tiffany Saw, and senior Denean Dixon, in the top twenty. Freshmen Diondra Bry- ant and Brianna May-Elliot also placed for Curtis.

Corinne Birchard, Tiffany Saw, Anna Clair Piersaik, Denean Dixon, Diondra Bryant, Taylor Henriquez, and Brianna May Elliot after they became PSAL city champions.

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