Adieu, Class of 2010 Prize Day and Commencement Winners

Wilbraham & Monson Academy
The Global School ®
TLAS
A
RE-ESTABLISHED 2008
Volume 2, Issue 8
May 29, 2010
I N S I D E
FEATURES
Senior Superlatives: Atlas
Knows Who You Really
Are
PAGE 4
NEWS
2010 Relay-For-Life On
Pace to Top $100,000 in
Contributions
PAGE 7
SENIORS
College List of Class of
2010
PAGE 2
COMMUNITY
Atlas Bids Fond Farewell to Departing Faculty
PAGE 6
SPORTS
Titan Ruggers Win First
Mass. State Championship
Tourney
PAGE 8
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Adieu, Class of 2010
BY WILLIAM BOURGEOIS ‘10
Staff -writer
As commencement is upon
us, we reflect upon our time at
Wilbraham and Monson Academy.
Some of us have been here for just
a year, and some of us for seven.
But regardless of how little or how
much time we’ve spent here, we’ve
all made memories that will last a
lifetime.
Each of us made our own
contribution to our class and to
our school as a whole. Whether
we were competing on the athletic
fields, working in the classroom,
tutoring in the Writing Center,
acting in the play, showcasing our
art, singing with Mosaic Harmony,
writing for Atlas, being a peer
counselor or prefect, being a Gold
Key member, or being a member of
RISE and SOAR, we each played
a part in making WMA a better
place.
WMA has meant many
different things to each of us. It’s
been a place to establish life-long
friendships, an important stepping
stone on the way to college and a
career, or a home for nine months
out of the year; but for all of us, it’s
been a place to learn about ourselves and the world around us.
We leave high school as
young adults that have been both
challenged and educated. We leave
our accomplishments behind as a
tribute to what we did for WMA
and for what WMA did for us. We
may no longer be walking down
the hill to lunch in the dining hall;
we may no longer be sitting in our
rows in Chapel; and we may no
longer be hastily pulling up our
ties and putting on our blazers as
Mr. Easler approaches. But we will
always be members of the WMA
community.
We all have different talents
and interests that we have discovered and honed while at WMA.
Next year, we will take these
talents and interests into the world
and make our mark upon it, just as
we’ve made our mark upon WMA.
While we are accomplished individuals, we could not have become
so without the help of so many
people. The time to reflect is also
the time to thank everyone that’s
made our time at WMA the invaluable experience that it’s been. To
the parents, families, teachers,
administrators, kitchen and maintenance staff, underclassmen, and
fellow seniors, thank you from the
Class of 2010 for contributing to
the profound impact that WMA has
made upon all of our lives. WMA
is a school unlike any other in so
many ways thanks to you.
Seniors, as we leave each
other and as we leave WMA, remember this: each of us is unique
as an individual, but together we
are Wilbraham and Monson Academy’s Class of 2010. And although
our time at WMA has come to an
end, we will always be the Class of
2010, our senior stones will always
lie in front of Rich Hall and we
will always be Titans. Farewell to
the Class of 2010!
Prize Day and Commencement Winners
Frank Chapin Cushman Memorial Award – Stephanie T. Robbins
Chandler Award – Caitlin C.
Charette
Stephen D. Luckraft Memorial
Award – Meghan C. Cole
Gift of the Class of 1965 – Maoi
L. Marcelino
Markell and Monson Class of
1898 Award/Owen David Dow
Memorial Award –
Ching Hoi Jefferson Lee
Billy Lak Prize – Hannah K.
Tanguay
Pieria Prize – Kathryn A. Sloan
Dr. Joseph P. Cebula Memorial
Award – Ayano Konakamura
Berube Prize – William H. Bourgeois
Class of 1977 Humanitarian
Award – Teresa J. Kennedy
John L. Nepomuceno Prize –
Sommer Mahoney
Davison Prize – Jeannette I. Viens
Head of School Award – Ashley F.
Drost, Adrianne T. Hanson, Victoria C. Mordasky,
Eric M. Ostrom
Head of School Award – Casey J.
Marini
Harriet Jones Nelson Trust –
Stephanie R. Duperre
Dr. George E. Rogers Scholar
Athlete Award – Adrianne T.
Hanson
Kyle E. Webb Award – Zainab A.
Sulaiman
Alumni Award – Jacqueline M.
Smith
Trustee Award – Sea Yoon Park
Phil Shaw Awards – Michaela A.
Rollings and Adam J. Ginsberg
Trustees Cup – Girls Varsity Lacrosse team
Cum Laude Society
Class of 2010
William H. Bourgeois
Emma J. Camilleri
Caitlin C. Charette
Stephanie R. Duperre
Adrianne T. Hanson
Minsang Kim
Ayano Konakamura
Yun-Seong Landon Nam*
Amanda E. Pierce
Michaela A. Rollings
Hannah K. Tanguay
*Inducted in May 2009
EVELINE BARBER DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS
Academic Computing – Tanit
Durongkapitaya
AP US History – Sommer Mahoney
Global Studies I – Heather K.
Little
Honors Global Studies II – Nicholas C. Jalbert
AP Microeconomics – Minsang
Kim
AP Macroeconomics – Jessica A.
Duncan
US History for International
Students – JianGuang Ding
Burt European History Prize –
Caitlin C. Charette
Continued on Page 6
2
Seniors
Class of 2010: College Bound
The Wilbraham & Monson Academy Class of 2010 college list
as of May 25, 2010 as provided by the College Counseling Department.
(The list is not all inclusive and may change over the summer since some
students are still awaiting word from wait-listed colleges).
Aimee Adamski
Joao J. Alves
Mitchell Amelio
Sangjin An
Union College
American International College
Stonehill College
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Christine M Anderson Westfield State College
Edmond J. Bertheaud Dean College
Jonathan D. Blazar
Boston University
William H Bourgeois Boston College
Alexander A BraWestfield State College
mucci
Emma J Camilleri
Smith College
Brian M Carr
Providence College
Yung-Yuan Chang
Lehigh University
Caitlin C. Charette
Providence College
Sara T. Colburn
Providence College
Meghan C. Cole
Union College
Michael Condon
Providence College
Charles Corbett
Champlain College
Connor Devivo
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Matthew Diack
Roger Williams University
Alexandra L. Dono- Salve Regina University
van
Eric Dortch II
Illinois Wesleyan University
Ashley Drost
College of Marin
Stephanie R Duperre Quinnipiac University
Tanit Durongkapitaya Northeastern University
William B. Dziura
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Naofall Folahan
Wagner College
Brian Fracasso
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Adam Ginsberg
University of Rochester
Adrianne Hanson
Elon University
ATLAS Staff
Caitlin Charette ‘10 Minsang Kim ‘10
Co-Editors in Chief
Eric Diogun ‘11
Production Editor
STAFF WRITERS
Jessica Wyszynski ‘10
Rachael Roy ‘10
Victoria Mordasky ‘10
Willie Bourgeois ‘10
Priyanka George ‘11
Timothy Manghan ‘11
Matthew Pajak ‘11
Carey Shetterley ‘11
Jacqueline Smith ‘11
Naruhiko Sugiura ‘11
Jeannette Viens ‘11
Jessica Duncan ‘11
Evan Filkins ‘11
Timothy O’Reilly ‘11
Nicholas Sarno ‘11
Jeremy Gilfor ‘11
Beong Jo Kang ‘11
Austin Little ‘12
Timothy Harrington
Faculty Advisor
Christopher Ayers
Faculty Writer
NY
MA
MA
IL
MA
MA
MA
MA
MA
MA
RI
PA
RI
RI
NY
RI
VT
MA
RI
RI
IL
CA
CT
MA
FL
NY
MA
NY
NC
Yun Woo Hong
Case Western Reserve University
In-Young Hwang
Purdue University
Moon-Kyung Hwang Parsons School of Design, New School
University
Marco Ilao
Bowling Green State University
Jenny Hanna In
Saint Joseph's University
Minsang Kim
Harvard University
YongJin Kim
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Joshua King
University of Connecticut
Nak Yong Kwon
Case Western Reserve University
David W. Lawrence
Philadelphia University
Jefferson Ching Hoi Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Lee
Nathan B.P. Lee
Bryant University
Yun-Hye Lee
Drexel University
Chang Li
Emory University
Chien-Hsiang Liao
Northeastern University
Chien Hao Lin
Rochester Institute of Technology
Xiao-Jiao Lu
Michigan State University
Andre Malouf Coen
Stonehill College
Maoi L. Marcelino
De La Salle University (Manila)
Steven S. Marcus
St. Bonaventure University
Casey J. Marini
Connecticut College
Lauren A. Marszalek University of Connecticut
Michael R McCarthy Johnson & Wales University
Rickey Moore Jr
Sacred Heart University
Trevor G. Moran
University of Rhode Island
Victoria C. Mordasky Roger Williams University
Di Mou
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Matthew J. Natario
Bryant University
Bridget A. O'Leary
Lasell College
Eric M Ostrom
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Peter Pascarelli
Western New England College
Andrew J. Pehoviak Colby-Sawyer College
Amanda E. Pierce
University of Notre Dame
Alexander B. Portno Hofstra University
Christopher Quinn
Macalester College
Stephanie T Robbins Boston College
Kodi L. Robitaille
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Michaela A. Rollings Georgetown University
Rachael K. Roy
University of Western Ontario
Benjamin D. Russell Northeastern University
Gina R. Santaniello
LIM College
Colin R. Scott
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Yi Chun Shen
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
James E. Skiba
James Madison University
Brian J. Sorensen
Colby-Sawyer College
Chun-Chi Su
Boston University
Zainab Sulaiman
Drew University
Hannah K. Tanguay
Fairfield University
Roman Tarasyuk
Springfield College
Kelsey Tomlinson
American University
Travis Treibt
Central Connecticut State University
Trevor Treibt
Central Connecticut State University
Jenniffer Ullauri
Dickinson College
Sara P. Vincunas
Stonehill College
Jessica L. Wyszynski Fairfield University
OH
IN
NY
OH
PA
MA
WI
CT
OH
PA
MA
RI
PA
GA
MA
NY
MI
MA
NY
CT
CT
RI
CT
RI
RI
IL
RI
MA
MA
MA
NH
IN
NY
MN
MA
MA
DC
ON
MA
NY
MA
PA
VA
NH
MA
NJ
CT
MA
DC
CT
CT
PA
MA
CT
Commentary
Caitlin Says Thank-You and Farewell....
BY CAITLIN CHARETTE ‘10
Co-Editor in Chief
The pen is mightier than the
sword if it is wielded by the right
person. I truly believe that writing
is both an expressive art form and
an outlet for feelings and ideas that
might otherwise be suppressed.
For the past two years, Atlas has
been a forum in which to hone my
writing skills outside of the classroom; allowing me to write more
hands-on, investigative pieces
about topics I know and experience, as opposed to feigning interest in literature or historical events
that have little bearing on the
course of my life. I have been able
to express my opinions through
editorials as well as stay informed
about events taking place in, or
behind the scenes of, Wilbraham &
Monson Academy.
Each time a new issue arrives in the reception office, I rush
to open the box and remove the
first paper from atop the stack. I
hold it, smell the freshly printed
ink, and proceed to set them out
in various spots in Rich Hall and
the library. I’m certain that in my
crazed excitement I have accosted
some of you in the halls, shouting, and waving papers in your
face. You’ve accepted copies with
trepidation, purely out of fear that
the look in my eye would manifest itself into a rage in which you
become the unfortunate victim of a
traumatic paper-cut or ink poisoning accident.
In all seriousness, the paper
is the product of hours of hard
work by myself, Mr. Harrington,
Eric Diogun ’11, Minsang Kim
’10, and all the staff-writers, and
it is something that I take pride
in. When I see people reading the
paper or hear them talking about
a specific article I feel as if I’ve
done my job, and that I’ve made a
tangible contribution to the WMA
community.
Isaac Newton once said: “If
I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.
Throughout my tenure at WMA
and as a member of the Atlas staff,
I have certainly stood on many
shoulders, and not just because I
am vertically challenged.
Mr. Harrington you have
been my teacher, quasi college
counselor, and mentor for the past
two years. I have learned more
from your informal lectures and
discussions during Tuesday night
Atlas meetings than in any class-
room. You strengthened my passion for writing and sparked my
interest in journalism. Being the
newspaper advisor is a huge commitment, and I sincerely thank you
for taking the time to make Atlas
possible.
Eric, I know, without a
doubt, that I drove you to within an
inch of your sanity with my incessant pleas for help and my inadequate command of technology.
Atlas would have been a random
collection of articles with no format or pictures if it hadn’t been for
you. Thank you for being patient,
most of the time, and I wish you
luck with your academic endeavors
and with Atlas next year.
Minsang, we worked surprisingly well together as co-editors. You are the self-proclaimed
master of efficiency, and cynicism
for that matter, and I’m thankful
you were able to do the majority of the first draft editing when
I was dealing with writers and
in-design issues. Good luck taking
over Cambridge next year; Harvard
doesn’t know what they’ve gotten
themselves into.
To my seniors, Willie, Jess,
Tori, Rachael, and Kelsey: it’s
been an honor to work with you in
3
the classroom as well as in Atlas.
I thank all of you from the bottom
of my heart, and I wish you all the
best of luck next year and beyond.
I feel confident saying that you are
all going places.
To my dear underclassmen:
I pass the pen to you. Thank you
all for your hard work this year, Atlas would be a lonely, blank space
without your beautiful words. I
wish next year’s editors good luck
and encourage all of you to keep
Atlas alive and thriving.
To Mr. LaBrecque and
the administration: you may not
always agree with or appreciate
what we have to say, but the fact
that you allow us to say it anyway
makes all the difference. Thank
you so very much for giving the
students a voice in their community; it means more than you know.
Finally, to our faithful
readers: thank you for taking the
time to discover what we, the Atlas
staff, have to say, and supporting
each of us in our quest to find our
voice. I can only hope that we have
successfully kept you informed and
entertained.
Farewell and Fair Fortune,
Caitlin Charette Co-Editor in Chief
...And Minsang (As Usual) Has the Last Word
BY MINSANG KIM ‘10
Co-Editor in Chief
I would like to thank Atlas
members and readers but most
of all Mr. Harrington, Caitlin
Charette, Eric Diogun, Magister
Ayers, and Ms. Carey. Mr. Harrington for giving me the opportunity to be co-editor of the Atlas,
proofreading many of the final
drafts, teaching me how to write,
and always being on time. Caitlin
Charette for making my life a lot
easier in checking up on what the
staff writers are doing and editing
the newspaper. Eric Diogun for
all the tech stuff I could not make
heads or tails of. Magister Ayers for always having an article or
two ready for us when we came
up short and always being there
for us. Ms. Carey for forgiving us
when we had to put a rush order to
the publishing company that cost
the school more money than was
budgeted.
On a separate note, I would
like to thank in no particular order
Ms. Scott, Ms. Southworth, Ms.
Shults, Ms. Fograshy, and Ms.
Powers without whom I, and so
many others, would probably not
have been able to function as a
student at WMA. My college
applications would not have been
sent, my mail unread, my absences
un-excused, my packages forgotten, and my health suffering.
It is 4:10 p.m. on May
24th, 2010, and I just finished my
last class an hour ago. I see my
co-editor wrote most of the “thankyou” stuff, and I wish to add to
the gratitude she expressed. That
leaves me so much more space,
500 words or so, to write about
what I want to write about.
The direction of Atlas as
a student-run newspaper is of the
greatest importance to me. I feel
that last year, Atlas did not focus
enough on representing the view
of the general student body and
voicing their complaints as well as
suggestions for improvement. This
year, I feel Atlas has done a lot better in representing the view of the
general student body, their concerns, and their hopes for WMA.
Readers may recall the article concerning girls’ rugby, for instance,
that made a strong case for instituting girls’ rugby and showed how
many women in our school wanted
to play rugby in the spring.
Since Vietnam and Wa-
tergate, media has taken a new
direction in serving as the watchdog of democracy rather than the
mouthpiece of the government.
Media voices opinions that would
otherwise go unheard to the powers that be and delivers solid news
impartially. Media is at its best the
mouthpiece of the people, from
whom all power of the government
is derived; in the WMA community, the media is the Atlas, the
people are the students, and the
government is the school. That is a
goal I have been striving to achieve
with Atlas. Atlas must safeguard
and voice the students’ opinions as
well as it can. Remember, Atlas
always watches over the front entrance to Rich Hall.
Most of our writers are
underclassmen, and I am glad
because without a strong corps
of junior writers, the Atlas would
flounder next year. I believe more
than half of our writers are juniors
and some of them are very promising writers. Special thanks to Jackie Smith without whom I would
have no idea what’s going on in
the school, Evan Filkins whom I
swear is going to be a bestselling
author one day if he chooses that
path, and Jeremy Gilfor who is a
funny writer with a granite foundation. I think Atlas will be in great
hands next year and will undoubtedly prosper. I encourage current
sophomores who find themselves
in AP Language & Composition
class in their junior year to join if
they see a future in journalism or
simply want to improve their writing.
Most of all, I wish good
luck to the presumably senior chief
editor(s) next year. Finish your
college applications early. Editing
the Atlas took me even more time
than I took to study for other classes and do homework. I wish you
wisdom in your editorial direction,
forethought in assigning articles,
efficiency in editing the articles,
and excess patience in dealing with
the complaints and excuses of the
staff writers. And I have no idea
who the chief editor(s) is next year,
so don’t ask me.
To readers, keep reading
and I assure you that you will be
entertained.
Farewell and Good Hunting
Minsang Kim, Co-Editor in Chief
4
Feature
Atlas Presents, Beyond the Blazers:
Most Likely to Adopt a Child from Kenya Most Likely to Talk to a Monkey Most likely to Spend All Their Money at the Village Store
Named Darwin
Betty Shen and Andy Mou
Zee Sulaiman and Steff Robbins
Stephanie Duperre
Most Likely to Use Ninja Skills
Most Likely to Trip at Graduation
Emma Camilleri
Most Likely to Find the Cure for Cancer and Lose It:
Brian Carr and Lauren Marszalek
Most Likely to Get Lucky With the Same Girl
Most Likely to Be Mistaken
For a Teddy Bear
Meg Cole, Colin Scott, and Ace Durongkapitaya
Most Likely to Steal the Titan Mascot Most Likely to Be the Next
Lady Gaga
Trevor and Travis Treibt
Most Likely to Change Their Name to
McLovin
Mitch Amelio and Mickey McCarthy
Vicky Pascual and Josh King
Most Likely to Outrun
Ms. Whipple’s Golf Cart
Rickey Moore and Chris Williams
Steve Marcus
Most Likely to Chose “Part Of Your
World” as Her Wedding Song
Most Likely to Join the NRA
Ayano Konakamura and Roman Tarasyuk
Sara Vincunas
Most Likely to Prove the Existence of
Multiple Universes
Will Dziura and Richard Chang
Most Likely To Steal Mike Tyson’s Tiger
Most Likely to Fist Pump
Christine Anderson and Ashley Drost
Casey Marini and Trevor Moran
Katie Sloan
Most Likely to Secretly Watch Twilight Alone in Their Room: Chris Quinn and Mike Condon (or maybe they’ll watch it together)
Most Likely to Use a Musical Instrument as a Weapon
Most Likely to Break Rule #1
Most Likely to Use a Pickup Line
From an I-Touch Application
Nate Lee
Matt Natario
Henry Liao and Jenny Inn (it’s always the quiet ones)
Most Likely to Wear Too Short a Skirt
Most Likely to Be in a Beiber Cover
Band
James Skiba and Charlie Corbett
Most Likely To Work At Victoria’s Secret
Most Likely to Be Put on Double-Secret
Probation in College
Brian Sorrenson and Drew Pehoviak
Pete Pascarelli and Alex Donovan
Howard Lin
5
Feature
the Keepin’ It Real Class of 2010 Superlatives List!
Least Likely to Be Able to Ride a Rollercoaster
Most Likely to Name Her First Born
“Taylor”
Most Likely to Mooch While Attempting a Double McTwist 1260
Most Voluminous Hair
Adam Ginsberg and Kelsey Tomlinson
Most Likely to Wear a Toga
Kodi Robitaille
Pete Rakocevic, Wakasa Ito, and
Micky Rollings
Naofall “Ming” Folahan
Most Likely to Broadcast Their Life on Facebook
Most Likely to Ask an Impertinent Maoi Marcelino and Adrianne Hanson
Question
Most Likely to Fix Your
Computer
Matt Diack
Most Likely to Be Found at Dunkin Donuts:
Alex Su
Tori Mordasky and Ed Berthaud
Most Likely to Wear a Toga and Make It
Look Fashionable
Worst Case of Senioritis
Best Nickname:
Rachael Roy and Nafiu
Connor
“Gypsy”
Devivo
and Ben “Baby Face” Russell
Ayatu-Abu
Sam Kim
Most Likely to Brighten Someone’s Day
Most Likely to Compete in a Beauty Pageant
Yun-Hye Lee and Moon Hwang
Most Likely to Pull Out His RUBIK’S
Cube On the First Date
Bridget O’Leary, Carlos Pascual and Gina Santaniello
Jefferson Lee and Hannah Tanguay
Most Likely to Have a Bro-mance
Most Likely to Request a Single Room
Jonathan Blazar
Most Likely to Solve Fermat’s Last
Theorem
Leo Li and Eric Ostrom
Luke Hong
Most Fantasy Crushes:
Jess Wyszynski and Andre Malouf
Most Likely to Bend It Like Beckham
Aimee Adamski, Dave Lawrence, and Alex
Portno
Gvozden “G” Vukojevic and Milan Drecun
Most Likely to Cast One of the Forbidden Curses
Willlie Bourgeois and Amanda Pierce
Most Likely to Be Late For Commencement
Lindsey Hwang and Ravi Lu
Most Likely to Be Texting While Receiving
Their Diplomas
Eric Dortch and Jennifer Ullauri
Most Likely to Get Lost (with a GPS)
Sara Colburn and Alex Bramucci
Most Likely to Get Kicked Out of Wal-Mart
Most Likely to Take over
the World
The entire 2010 class
Minsang Kim
Most Likely to Be Found at
Dunkin Donuts
Tori Mordasky and Ed Berthaud
Most Likely to Incite a Wild
Animal at the Zoo
Caitlin Charette and Brian
Fracasso
Community
6
Farewell Mrs. McGrath, Ms. Torres
BY BEONG JO KANG‘11 &
JEANNETTE VIENS ‘11
Staff-writers
the new athletic center and track.
She also pointed out how
much she has enjoyed interacting with people at WMA. It was
her “honor” to witness her middle
school students, whom she previously taught, grow up through
high school and graduate from the
Academy. Mrs. McGrath has not
only made a strong connection
with the students but also with the
faculty.
Recently, Mrs. McGrath’s
excitement has been focused on the
development of the new Student
Center, which she stated would
It was August 2003 when
contribute to an “overall developMrs. Lisa Palmero McGrath gradu- ment in student pride.”
ated from Ithaca College in upstate Unfortunately, her service
New York and dropped her bags
at WMA is about to come an end,
off at Wilbraham and Monson
as she will move to Connecticut
Academy. She was to fill the post
with her husband and work at the
of Director of Student Activities,
Hopkins School in New Haven.
teach 6th grade humanities, and
She concluded her statements by
serve as a dorm parent to freshsaying, “thank you, Wilbraham &
man boys on the first floor of Smith Monson families and friends, for
Hall.
seven wonderful years and for giv
Throughout her tenure
ing me the opportunity to be a part
Mrs. McGrath said that she had
of the WMA community. I want to
witnessed great progress in groups wish everyone the best of luck in
such as the Relay for Life, Bithe future.”
centennial Scholar celebrations,
Although you will be apart
Prefect Program, Dorm Olympics,
from our WMA community, we
and the ground-breaking release of will not forget you, Mrs. McGrath;
Good Luck, Mr. Kwon
BY JEREMY GILFOR ‘11
Staff-writer
Every school has that
teacher that students love to hate,
the one that’s ‘unfair’, or ‘too
hard’ or a ‘jerk’. Apparently at our
school, that is Mr. Will Kwon. But
he is none of those things. Yes, he
challenges his students. Yes, he
gives a lot of work. And, yes, he
will tell you if you are wrong. But
isn’t that what every teacher should
do?
I can only speak from one
year of personal experience with
Mr. Kwon, the AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, and Stocks/
Bonds teacher. But that year has
told me everything I need to know.
Mr. Kwon is a teddy bear. He gets
his reputation because he believes
in hard work, and lots of it.
I took his AP Microeconomics class. Every day, there
was an official AP exam question
waiting on our desks for us as a
one-point quiz. Every night there
was homework. When a unit was
finished, there was an exam. We
finished all 23 chapters in our textbook well before the exam, while
other classes struggled to cram in
the information at the last minute.
We took numerous practice exams,
and saw literally every released
multiple choice and free-response
question. We were prepared. We
knew our stuff.
And that is a teacher’s job,
especially an AP teacher. Sure,
some teachers are really nice, but
you learn nothing in their class and
fail the exam. Not Mr. Kwon. He
manages to combine the two. Contrary to popular belief, he is one of
the nicest guys on campus.
You will find him in his office well before eight in the morning, and he is often there until ten
at night, tutoring students in everything from math to SAT prep to
economics to college selection to
general life. He is an honest, sweet,
kind man who is interested only in
the success and well being of his
students.
And so on behalf of all the
students who appreciate what you
have done for us, I thank you Mr.
Kwon – for being honest, for being
a true educator, and for being one
of the best teachers I have had the
pleasure of having.
you will always be in our hearts.
Her office is organized
chaos in the form of poker chips,
Relay for Life papers, and Rock
Band equipment. The walls are
adorned with pictures from dances,
basketball games. To top it off are
the flowers on her desk that are as
bright as Ms. Torres’s personality.
Ms. Lynes Torres has
worked at WMA for two years
now, but will be leaving us to attend graduate school at Boston
University. Her position as Activities Director will be incorporated
into Mrs. Palmero McGrath’s position to form the “Head of Residential Life”.
Even after the Student Activities Board disbanded, Ms. Torres still planned some spectacular
events. She said her favorite WMA
activity memory was during a
Quiz Bowl Extravaganza last year.
“People were going up to compete
in all types of arenas. There were
multiple choice questions and
physical challenges. The physical challenges were the highlight
of the entire school year for me. I
didn’t even have to tell them what
to do after a while; they came up
with their own challenges.”
Ms. Torres leaves WMA
with these last words: “Life at
WMA will only be as good as you
want it to be. That goes for dorm
life, academics, and activities. You
just have to have an open mind,
and be ready to have fun. And that
doesn’t take a lot, just good company and good spirit.”
Atlas also bids farewell to
Ms. Carol Daggs and Ms. Lucy
Shrenker who have been the teachers and caretakers of WMA’s music
programs these past two and a half
years. Ms. Daggs says she plans to
focus on developing her wellness
studio, called Jazzage Massage
Therapy, which is located at 135
State Street in Springfield. She will
also continue as Minister of Music at the Third Baptist Church in
Springfield..
Prize Day Cont...
Continued from Page 1
English 9 – Emma A. Bourgeois
English 10 – YeonJoo Lee
George H. Hefflon Memorial
Award – Jeremy L. Gilfor
English 12 – Steven P. Marcus
Howe S. Newell Senior English
Award – Emma J. Camilleri
Excellence in ESL – Tayawat
Chirathivat
Visual Art – Emma J. Camilleri
Music – Chien-Hsiang Liao
Theatre – Priyanka T. George
Rhode Island School of Design
Annual Art Award – Adrianne T.
Hanson
Marilyn Erickson Memorial
Prize – Moon-Kyung Hwang
Algbra I – Francisco A. Baltazar
Geometry – Kristen E. Klebart
Algebra II – Yanjiang Guo
Precalculus – James A. Bernardo
AP Calculus AB – Brian M. Carr
AP Calculus BC – Eric M. Ostrom
Multivariable Calculus – Di Mou
AP Statistics – Meng-Chien Wang
Ernest J. Lawton Memorial
Award – Yun Woo Hong
Rensselaer Mathematics and Science Award – YeonJoo Lee
Honors Biology – Jeremy L. Gilfor
AP Biology – Michaela A. Rollings
Honors Chemistry – Dongping
Guo
AP Chemistry – Jessica A. Duncan
Honors Physics 9 – Jacob M.
Royal
AP Physics B – Zi Wei Wan
AP Physics C – Siyao Shen
AP Environmental Science –
Stephanie R. Duperre
Bausch & Lomb Science Award –
Shuyi Zhang
Edward F. Morris Prize – Shuyi
Zhang
Intermediate Mandarin – Sea
Yoon Park
Advanced Mandarin – Joshua L.
King
Intermediate Latin – Priyanka T.
George
Advanced Latin – Emma Camilleri
Intermediate Spanish – Teresa
Kennedy
Advanced Spanish – Nicholas C.
Jalbert
Intermediate French – Sarah E.
Goolishian
Catherine Ingraham Award for
Excellence in French – Caitlin C.
Charette
News
BY CAITLIN CHARETTE ‘10
Co-Editor in Chief
Cancer is the ultimate
equalizer. Unlike people, it does
not discriminate by race, gender, or
age, and it puts no merit in individual accomplishments, dreams, or
potential. It arbitrarily infects and
destroys the lives of thousands of
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers,
aunts, uncles,
cousins,
grandparents,
friends, and
teachers each
year. Cancer
is the familiar antagonist
in many
tragic stories,
and most
people have
their own
story to tell.
On
April 15th
and 16th the
Wilbraham community hosted it’s
second Relay for Life at the Wilbraham & Monson Academy to
raise funds for the American Cancer Society. This year 825 members of both the Wilbraham and
WMA communities gathered
on the WMA
track to battle a
common enemy.
This year’s
participants
raised an
incredible
$85,000, which
represents a dramatic increase
over last year’s
$62,000.
One
aspect of Relay
is the Celebrate ceremony during which participants acknowledge and honor
all those who
have battled and
triumphed over
cancer. The ceremony features
a lap of the track
by the survivors
encouraged by
the applause of
onlookers who
surround the track. Last year the
Wilbraham relay had the most
survivors of any new relay with 67,
and this year surpassed that number with 85 gung-ho survivors.
Amidst the celebration,
Relay has a somber undertone; the
reality is that for every survivor on
site there is at least one person who
7
How To Save a Life
was taken by the disease present in
the hearts of the participants. The
Remember
ceremony
is meant
to pay
homage to
those who
have lost
their battle
with cancer.
450 Luminaria
bags bought in honor of those
who defeated
cancer and
in memory
of those who
didn’t lined
the track once
darkness fell.
Stephanie Duperre ’10 shared
her original poem Candle, and
Max Rankin ’12
shared the heartbreaking story
of his mother’s
battle with cancer.
The luminaries burned
throughout the night
giving faces and names
to the endless laps, and
reminded cold, exhausted relayers why
they were there.
The entertainment committee provided participants with
plenty of
activities to
keep them
occupied
when they
weren’t
walking
laps including bounce
houses,
inflatable jousting, salsa dance
class, movies, face painting,
and music. Relay featured
three live bands and three
vocal performances: Punchin
Logic from across the Atlantic
in England, 1220 a local band
a little closer to home, WMA’s
own John Lee ’12, YunHye Lee
’10, Jessica Smith ’14, and members of the
Rockband,
James Kwak
‘12 , Jimmy
Skiba ’10,
Elisabeth
Guggi ’12,
and Ryan Lin
’11, as well as Colin and Caitlin
Geagan and Antoinette Nieves.
DJ’s Chris Worden and Tom McCusker filled
the musical
gaps, and serenaded sleeping
participants
with the Hamster Dance at 6
AM.
34 out of
86 teams were formed by WMA
students. As of May 25th the top
fundraising
WMA
teams
are BMS
Purple
captained by
Hannah
Epstein
‘14 who raised $1,095
and the Blue
Barracudas
captained by
Jessica Duncan ‘11 who
raised $1,074.
The top WMA
fundraising
individual
participants
are Stephanie
Robbins ‘10
who raised
$715, Ms.
Erika Whipple
who raised $645, Rachel Ostrom ‘12 who
raised $550, and Andre
Malouf-Coen ‘10 who
raised $490. Ms. Donna Viens, who
was in charge of the WMA student
team captains, says that “while
student participation was strong
this year, there are still gaps in
recruitment”. She advocates more
involvement in advisor groups and
is looking forward to helping next
year to improve coordination in
all aspects of being a team captain
including chaperones, food, tents,
banner, and theme laps. Co-chair Steff Robbins
said that WMA students “ were
much more organized and on top
of things this year.” She added that
“the committee knew what areas
of the event needed more attention,
and then was able to work from
there. It also helped that there was
no rain and lots of sun”.
Looking forward to next
year, Steff will pass the torch to
her co-chair Jacqueline Smith ’11
with this advice: “ Don’t panic.
Planning such a
large event can be
complicated and
very stressful at
times, but the support system surrounding you will
always be there to
help in whatever
ways are needed.
Everything will
work out, and each
event will be better
than the last”.
Jackie Smith is fully
prepared to shoulder the task, and is
already thinking of
ways to improve
next year’s relay.
“We’re going to
start planning a lot earlier next
year. But, besides that, I hope it all
goes as well as this year. We were
ecstatic with the turn out. It was
more than we ever expected.”
Relay for Life is an incredible opportunity for members of
the global school to cross the racial
and linguistic barrier that separates
our community in support of fellow human beings who struggle
with a universal disease.
The Wilbraham Relay for
Life website is still accepting donations. Anyone wishing to make
a contribution can visit www.
relayforlife.org/wilbraham.
8
Sports
Atlas Salutes Senior Athletes
BY JEANNETTE VIENS ‘11
Staff-writer
Atlas would like to honor
the senior students who have
worked especially hard in their
sports to bring glory and victory to
WMA.
Soccer: Aimee Adamski
and Meghan Cole ,who will both
play for Union college, were voted
WWNEPSSA All League Players. Cole was also selected as
team MVP and voted to the Massachusetts 2009 All-State Soccer
Team. Sara Vincunas received the
Coach’s Award and received Honorable mention-All League. Jenny
In was named Most Improved Offensive Player.
Connor Devivo and
Co-captains Casey Marini and
Marco Ilao were selected for the
WNEPSSA Mass All State 1st
team. Marini ,who will play for
Connecticut College, was also chosen for the All New England team.
Ilao was named to the WNEPSSA
1st team. Dave Lawrence, who also
received the Coach’s award, and
Co-captain Trevor Moran received
WNEPSSA Honorable Mention.
Lawrence will play for Philadelphia University. Drew Pehoviak
will play for Colby Sawyer. Moran, Alex Portno, and Devivo will
all play for Division I schools
,the University of Rhode Island,
Hofstra University, and the Univer-
sity of Massachusetts, respectively.
Football: Trevor Treibt was
named NEPSAC All New England
Class B and team MVP. He was
also selected to play on the Colonial League 1st team along with
co-captain Rickey Moore. Travis
Treibt was selected as the November male athlete of the month and
was named to the Colonial League
2nd team along with co-captain
Pete Pascarelli. Pascarelli also
received the Coach’s Award. In the
fall, the Treibts will play Division
I football at central Connecticut
State University. Moore will play
Division I for Sacred Heart, and
Pascarelli will play Division III for
Western New England College.
Field Hockey: Emma
Camilleri received the MVP award
and will be playing field hockey
for Smith College.
Water Polo: Steve Marcus was named MVP, and Caitlin
Charette received the Coach’s
Award.
Basketball: Eric Dortch was
the Athlete of the Month in December and was an honorable mention
for All Western New England. He
will play for Illinois Wesleyan University in the fall. Pete Rakocevic
was named to the All Western New
England 3rd Team, and Chris Williams was named to the All Western New England 2nd Team. Naofall Folahan was named to the 1st
Team and All Tournament in the
Peddie Tournament. Folahan will
play for Wagner College. Mitch
Ameilo has committed to play for
Stonehill College. Williams, Rakocevic, Milan Drecun, and Gvodzen
Vukojevic will also look to play in
college.
Swimming: Nate Lee was
All New England in the 50m and
100m Freestyle, and will swim for
Bryant College next year.
Lacrosse: Steff Robbins
was honored with the Coach’s
Award. Co-captian Adam Ginsberg won the Boy’s Athlete of the
Month in April and was named
team MVP. He was also named
a WNESSLA All-Star and was
selected to the WNESSLA D2-D3
Senior All-Star game. Jefferson
Lee received the Coach’s Award
and WNESSLA Honorable Mention All-League.
Tennis: Mickey Rollings won Girl’s Athlete of the
Month in April and the team MVP
award. She will play Division I for
Georgetown University.
Volleyball: Gvozden Vukojevic and Mitch Amelio received
the Coach’s Award.
Golf: Jess Wyszynski
received the Coach’s Award and
has been invited to try out for the
women’s team at Fairfield university.
Baseball: Brian Fracasso
earned this year’s MVP and was
named the May Athlete of the
month. He was selected to the
All New England Prep Baseball
League 1st Team and will play Division I at the University of Massachusetts. Brian Carr was chosen for
the Coaches’ Award.
Atlas would also like to
acknowledge those seniors who
played a varsity sport all three
trimesters:
Nafiu Ayatu-Abu (Football,
Riflery, Lacrosse), Ed Bertheaud
(Water Polo, Skiing, Lacrosse),
Caitlin Charette (Water Polo,
Wrestling, Lacrosse), Milan
Drecun (Water Polo, Basketball,
Volleyball), Naofall Folahan (Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball), Adam
Ginsberg (Cross Country, Skiing, Lacrosse), Jenny In (Soccer,
Skiing, Tennis), David Lawrence
(Soccer, Skiing Tennis),
Jefferson Lee (Football, Swimming, Lacrosse), Yun-Hye Lee
(Volleyball, Riflery, Tennis),
Steven Marcus (Water Polo, Basketball, Baseball), Rickey Moore
(Football, Winter Track, Track
& Field), Trevor Moran (Soccer,
Winter Track, Lacrosse), Stephanie
Robbins (Field Hockey, Skiing,
Lacrosse), Travis Treibt (Football,
Riflery, Lacrosse), Trevor Treibt
(Football, Riflery, Lacrosse), and
Gvozden Vukojevic (Football, Basketball, Volleyball)
Titans Win First State Rugby Championship
BY CAITLIN CHARETTE ‘10
Co-Editor in Chief
On May 22 at Van Horn
Park in Springfield, the first year
Titan rugby team clinched the first
ever Massachusetts state rugby
championship. The Titans won the
Plate division of the Massachusetts
Youth Rugby Organization championship tournament by beating
three established rugby clubs.
After winning their first
two matches, the Titans faced a
brutishly physical Worcester RFC
side for the third time this season
to determine the championship.
Worcester had spanked WMA in
its first game 38-17 but WMA had
gotten payback in a rematch at
Amoskeag, winning in a penalty
kick duel .
This time WMA got the
better of Worcester, winning 5-0.
The match was a grueling battle.
Worcester, with its big forward
pack, dominated in the rucks and
line-outs, which meant that there
were not many opportunities for
WMA’s backs to run with the
ball. The first half was nearly all
Worcester, but hard tackling by
Colin Scott ‘10, Josh King ‘10,
Mickey McCarthy ‘10, Jack Viens
‘13, and Max Rankin ‘12 kept the
Titans in the match, which was still
scoreless at half.
Finally, in a Worcester
scrum on their own 22 meter line,
hooker John Lee ’12 managed to
steal the hook and WMA seized
the opportunity: Jeremy Gilfor
’11 passed to Scott Watson, who
skipped to Kanta Sugai, who went
in for the try.
Worcester came back in the
final minutes and it took a couple
of game saving tackles, including
one by winger Buun Tengamnuay
on a Worcester player at least a 100
pounds heavier to seal the historic
victory.
The Titans celebrated the
victory by giving Coach Harrington an ice water shower with
the water jug. Coaches Harrington
and Swanson were ecstatic. “To
get to the state finals and win in
our first year is simply beyond all
expectations,” Coach Swanson
declared. “This is a great group,”
added Coach Harrington. “They
deserved this. They worked hard
all season and improved so much
from where we started in March.”
To get to the final, the Titans had to beat local rivals Springfield Rifles RFC U-19. Titans’
winger Maoi Marcelino ‘10 scored
an impressive three tries to lead the
team to a 17-14 victory.
The Titans next drew a
tough Middlesex RFC team that
had beaten the WMA squad at the
Amoskeag tourney a few weeks
earlier. The Titans jumped to an
early lead on a try and conversion
scored by Kanta Sugai as the Titan
backline got the best of Middlesex.
Middlesex answered to make the
score 7-5 Titans at the half. Sugai scored another try early in the
second half to make it 14-5 and the
Titans struggled to hold the lead
right down to the final whistle.
Earlier that week, the Titans
traveled to Meriden, NH to play
the only other prep school rugby
team in New England, Kimball
Union Academy. In the first prep
school rugby match since 1907, the
Titans secured the historic victory
(the unofficial New England prep
school championship) 11-8 on a
try by Colin Scott and two penalty
kicks from Sugai.
The Titans finished the season with a 5-1 tournament record
and a 9-3 overall record.