Grand Island High School News Web Page 2010
January - July
Grand Island High School Website
2009 News Page
GIHS Football Page
"GIHS Sports Schedules/Information"
Fall Sports Schedule
Principal
Sandra Anzalone
GISBA Corporate Bowl Final Results - March 2010
See March 16 Bowl Results.
Luke Burkhart, National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist - March 2010
More than 1.5 million juniors in about in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test. Luke Burkhart is one of 16,000 Semifinalists across the country. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of the U.S. high school seniors.
Grand Island DECA Wins at States! - March 2010
Amy Grenke - Chapter Scrapbook awards
Click photos for larger view
It was the 50th anniversary of the New York State DECA Career Conference and Grand Island was there to showcase a year of hardwork. GI DECA captured four trophies and 26 top ten medals in events such as: Business Law and Ethics, Visual Advertising, and Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Hillary Figler and Kearney Erhard qualified for the National level in their event of Travel and Tourism, Katie Rustowicz placed third in the state in the Job Interview category, and Amy Grenke reclaimed first place in the chapter Scrapbook event. Mrs. Cheryl Chamberlain and Mr. Christopher Simpson encourage their business students to join DECA, an association of business and marketing students. DECA students have an "edge" because competitions like this prepare students for the demands of college and the world of work through authentic business simulations.Girls Basketball Loss Ends Championship Season - March 2010
See Buffalo News story by Mary Jo Monnin.
See also "Niagara Gazette Story 3/14/10" by By Nate Beutel.
Corporate Bowl First Round Results - March 2010
See March 9 Bowl Results.
PTSA/Rotary Students of the Month
March 2010
Breanne Rafferty Steve Boyle Lauren Fonte Sara Grana
Breanne Rafferty has been a Grand Island resident her whole life, residing with her parents and her brother. She has been part of the Grand Island School District since Kindergarten, and has achieved many goals throughout her education.
While in high school at Grand Island, Breanne has succeeded in all areas including academics, sports, music, and contributing to her community. She has been consistently on the Honor Roll while maintaining good standings in many AP level courses, as well as earning the Academic Excellence Awards which include the Certificate, Pin, and Letter, thus far. She has been a recipient of the Pride of the Island award and is currently a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. In addition to this, her academic achievements as well as her involvement in sports caused her to earn the Scholar Athlete Award each year in high school. Breanne has been a part of the girls tennis team since ninth grade, and she was named captain of the team for two consecutive seasons, in both her junior and senior years. She received her Varsity Letter in tennis as well.
Breanne has also been involved in music, playing clarinet in the high school's Concert Band in ninth grade as well as being an All-County Band member in that year. She then continued to play in the Wind Ensemble during her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Through this activity, she earned her Varsity Letter for music.
Outside of school, Breanne danced for fifteen years, studying tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, hip-hop, and lyrical over the years. She has also participated in USTA tennis tournaments and tennis programs at the Village Glen in Williamsville. She has also been a member of the high school's Ski Club, Pep Band, American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, and the Kaegebein Mentoring Club. Through the Kaegebein Mentoring Club, Breanne mentors Kaegebein students once a week. This mentoring has been a way for Breanne to volunteer her time to her community. She has also volunteered in many other local schools such as Sidway Elementary School on Grand Island, 66th Street School in Niagara Falls, and Cataract Elementary School in Niagara Falls. Breanne is currently employed at Elderwood Nursing Home on Grand Island.
After high school graduation, Breanne will be attending SUNY Geneseo to pursue a dual major in Elementary Education and Special Education.
Steve Boyle has been a resident of Grand Island for all seventeen years of his life. He began his schooling at Sidway Elementary School for his kindergarten and first grade years, moved on to Kaegebein Elementary for grades two through five, progressed to Veronica E. Connor Middle School up through eighth grade, and currently attends Grand Island High School and is in the process of completing his challenging senior year.
As a student, Steve has always been involved with advanced level classes. Whether it was attending an advanced reading class as a first grader, accelerated mathematics courses throughout elementary school, or honors and Advanced Placement courses in each of his four years as a high school student, Steve has always kept up with his studies and has sought academic excellence. Currently, Steve is enrolled in AP Calculus, AP Literature and Composition, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, and College Level Spanish.
On top of his high level of academic studies, Steve also has been involved in numerous extra curricular activities. He is a member of the Varsity Soccer team, which he has played for since his sophomore year, and also plays Varsity Tennis. Steve has been a member of DECA and was also the treasurer in his junior class. Currently, he plays the tenor saxophone for both the Wind Ensemble and the Jazz Ensemble, and is also a member of Interact Club, National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and the Principal’s Advisory Council.
Despite his busy schedule consumed with academics and extra curricular activities, Steve still finds many ways to be active in his community. He has participated in community service projects through Interact Club such as Habitat for Humanities and collecting canned goods for the Neighbors Foundation and has raised money for Relay for Life.
Some notable awards Steve has won throughout his years as a student are the President’s Award for Academic Excellence, Pride of the Island, and his Varsity letters for soccer and tennis. Also, Steve has won the Rochester Institute of Technology Innovation Award, which gives him $24,000 in scholarship money if he chooses to attend.
Lauren Fonte has been a lifelong resident of Grand Island and resides with her parents and sister. She has been an active member of her community and school district as well as a dedicated student and dancer.
Academically, Lauren has consistently achieved high honor roll status while challenging herself with eleven advanced placement and or college level classes. She is working diligently to maintain her class ranking as fifth in a class of highly motivated and intelligent seniors. She has been recognized by PTA with the Academic Excellence Certificate, Pin and Varsity Letter and hopes to achieve her Academic Bar by the end of the school year. At the end of her junior year, Lauren was the recipient of the Russell Sage College Student Award for her academic excellence, student leadership and community involvement. While enrolled in Niagara University Spanish, she was inducted into the National Spanish Honors Society, La Sociedad Honoria Hispánica. During her senior year, Lauren served as an active member of the National Honors Society where she currently serves as Secretary.
Lauren has gained much from her extracurricular involvement, both in school and in her dance studio. She has served as Editor of the Venture Yearbook for the past two years and has developed her personal marketability through her vast involvement in DECA. During her junior year, Lauren won the DECA state competition in the category of job interviewing while serving as vice president of the organization. This year she has enjoyed not only serving as president of the Grand Island Chapter but also as Regional Representative for the school and treasurer for the Region.
Lauren’s involvement in the music program at GIHS has provided her the opportunity to both perform and choreograph in each year’s musical production. Over the years, she has also enjoyed performing as a member of Grand Island High School Choir, Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Women of Note, and Madrigals. She has challenged herself by competing in NYSSMA solo festival and grew musically through her selection to Senior High All County and Area All State. Many hours throughout the week are spent studying various forms of dance, which she has pursued for fourteen years of her life.
Lauren feels that community involvement deserves equal importance in her schedule. For many years she has been an active participant of Girl Scout Troop 1217 where she earned the highest rank a Girl Scout can achieve, the Girl Scout Gold Award. Other volunteer experiences include involvement in the Seneca Street Church’s Summer Reading Program, Youth Mentor Program and the American Cancer Society Student Liaison.
Lauren has set high goals for her future. After graduation she plans on pursuing a double major in Elementary Education/Special Education with a Master’s Degree in School Psychology and was accepted Early Admission to SUNY Geneseo.
Sara Grana has been a resident on Grand Island all her life, living with her parents and her younger brother. Being enrolled in the Grand Island schools from the start, Sara has actively participated in extracurricular activities, and has been an active member in the art and music programs as well. She has been in the Wind Ensemble since sophomore year, and has participated in jazz, pep band, pit orchestra, and other various All County and All State bands. She holds a high 90s average which has been a cause of her acceptance in the National Honors Society of her school, and a result of many years of hard work and perseverance.
Outside of school, Sara belongs to St. Stephen’s Church. Oftentimes she helps out with the religion classes, and has even taught them for a couple of summers. She has also been a member of Girl Scouts since fourth grade, and is now completing her last year as a Senior Ambassador. Throughout her middle school years, her troop has completed many hours of community service to receive their Bronze and Silver Awards. During her junior year, she had completed a total of 80 hours of leadership and community service, and put together a mentoring program for young girls in the middle school. This project was put together and presented to the Girl Scout Council as a troop to receive their Gold Award, which is the highest possible award that can be received by a scout.
After a long 12 years of hard work and recently challenging herself with AP courses, (European History, US History, Biology, Art, Literature, and Composition) Sara hopes to graduate with her regents with distinction diploma, and attend college in the fall 2010 semester. She is hoping to major in Physical Therapy at Daemen.
Girls Basketball Headed To Far Western Regional Game - March 2010
Top From Left: Sitting: Dominique Degregorio, Danielle Wegrzyn, Kallie Banker, Ambria Tim, Maria Guidotti, Alex London,
Megan Karpie, Kristin Wegrzyn.
Standing: Coach Jenepher Banker, Jessica Yarnes, Jessica Osvath, Cassie Oursler, Shannon Moody, Brooke DeMarco,
Coach Rachel Martin, Mary Scherrer.
Laurie Yarnes Photos - Click photos for larger view
After beating Amherst, Class A-2 champions last Saturday (Mar. 6) 56-30 at ECC Flickinger Center, the GI Vikings girls basketball team
are headed to the Rochester area Saturday, March 13th. The Far Western Regional Game will take place at 2:00 p.m, at Gates Chili High School
against Section V champion Greece Arcadia. The Vikings are looking to reach the state semi-finals. This is the first trip to regionals
since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.Girls Basketball Class A Champs - March 2010
See Buffalo News story by Mary Jo Monnin.
See also Niagara Gazette story by Nate Beutel.
Corporate Bowl Begins March 9, 2010
See GISBA Corporate Bowl 2010" for complete information.
Girls Basketball Class A-1 Champs - March 2010
Top From Left: Sitting: Danielle Wegrzyn, Kallie Banker, Ambria Tim, Maria Guidotti, Jenna Raepple, Alex London, Megan Karpie, Kristin Wegrzyn.
Standing: Coach Jenepher Banker, Jessica Yarnes, Shannon Moody, Cassie Oursler, Brooke DeMarco, Dominique Degregorio, Jessica Osvath, Coach Rachel Martin, Mary Scherrer.
Laurie Yarnes Photos - Click photos for larger view
See "Niagara Gazette Story 3/4/10" by By Nate Beutel.
Girls Basketball Feature - Jenn Banker - March 2010
See "Niagara Gazette Story 3/2/10" by By Nate Beutel.
Boys Basketball Suffers Loss To Bennett - Feb. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette Story 2/26/10" by By Nate Beutel.
GIHS Winter Ball 2010
Left photo: King and Queen: Mike Montaldi and Mary Chiaravalle
Right photo: Bethany Beratovicz, Keelan Erhard, Sarah Chamberlain, Sara Carlson, Alexa Territo
Click photos for larger view
This year's Grand Island High School winter ball, themed "Island In The Sun," took place at the school on Saturday evening, February 27, 2010. The Student Council once again outdid themselves on decorations centered around a warm tropical island!
Mike Montaldi and Mary Chiaravalle were chosen king and queen. Student Council Advisors Mary Colpoys and Bob Simpson would like to thank the Student Council Officers and chaperones for their help with this event!NYS Swim Results
See "2010 NYSPHAA Federation Championship Results"
See also Niagara Gazette "2010 NYSPHAA Federation Championship Results"
Lady Vikings Defeat Kenmore East 46-41
See "Niagara Gazette Story 2/27/10"
Lady Vikings Defeat Lakeshore 52-18
Click "Buffalo News Story 2/26/10"
GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending February 25, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 2/25/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
Grand Island High School Honor Roll - Feb. 2010
The following Grand Island High School students have been named to the honor roll for the second quarter, 2009-2010 school year:Grade 10 - Reem Abdellatif, Sonia Brar, Amber Carpenter, Jonathan Goc, Katlyn Holt, Casey Jelonek, Megan Karpie, Elizabeth Kowalik, Brendon Lutnick, Michael Malaney, Shannon McNaughton, Mia Michael, Nigel Michki, Joshua Miller, David Mohr, Dominic Morell, Ryan Proctor, Danyelle Redmond, Rachel Ripellino, Kenneth Rogoza, Nicolette Scerra, Zachary Smith, Taylor Sweet, Nathalie Winder
Grade 11 - Sara Diletti, Anna Ferrante, Emma Henderson, Ariana Mendel, Evan Shaw, Sara Victor
Grade 12 - Steven Boyle, Luke Burkhart, Kathryn Cobello, Kelly Hooven, Krystin Hoppel, Seth Kline, Megan McInerney, Michael Mucci, Kelsey Mulvey, Andrea Nicolia, Erika Osberg, Sarah Palazza, Blake Stanwick, Rachel Surdi
Grade 10 - Gabrielle Ailinger, Sumr Ali, Laura Amantia, Joshua Bastian, Korey Bennett, Katelyn Benns, Alexandria Black, Amanda Blanton, James Bobak, Conner Bolles, Shannon Boreali, Diana Boulden, Sarah Brady, Christopher Brownschidle, Justin Canazzi, Marshall Cancilla, Alanna Cedrone, Emma Chambers, Jesse Ciffa, Alexandra Corrao, Emily Dauphin, Jordan Davis, Maggie DeMarco, Shannon Doctor, Allison Donahue, Sydney Dudish, Rebekah Evans, Talia Fabiilli, Donald Failing, Brent Fred, Alyssa Fuoco, Matthew Gannon, Rebecca Gasiorek, Kaitlyn Gilbert, Ashley Gorman, Deannna Green, Jonathan Grenda, Thomas Grenke, Anmol Grewal, Marissa Haley, Jessica Hall, Ryan Hughes, Mary Irving, Andrew Jasek, Samantha Kahn, Dylan Kelly, Paige Kippley, Korey Kostek, Victoria Kostenbauder, Victoria Kustra, Jenna Lee, Jodi Lee, Kelsie Loos, Mark Lydle, Madelyne Mankowski, Rebecca Masse’, Shannon McDonough, John McGinty, Kallan McMillan, Casey McNamara, Alec Metro, Kyle Meyer, Ryan Miller, Lindsay Morano, Hallie Nowak, Alexis Pearce, Kristen Percival, Alyssa Pino, Sarah Ramsperger, Matthew Robinson, Alexandra Seibert, Gagandeep Singh, Cassidy Smith, Brittney Sonnenberg, Jessica Spencer, Sarah Stanczyk, Bridget Thompson, Harrison Thompson, Kathryn Turner, Jessica Ungaro, Jonathan Voyzey, Alexandra Wallinder, Rachel Watt, Sarah Williams, Dominic Zannin, Alicia Zartman
Grade 11 - Danya Abdellatif, Karl Albrecht, Alexandria Bleich, Kathryn Boutet, Brian Brink, Thomas Cameron, Jenna Cardone, Brooke Chamberlain, Bethany Cinelli, Nicholas Colao, Kevin Colman, Aden Cook, Andrew Dale, Brooke DeMarco, Kaleigh Deuser, Chelsea Fairbairn, Korin Frantz, Christian Gibson, Rebecca Hammett, Julie Hasselbeck, Kyle Held, Steven Henderson, Ava Jackson, Emily Jones, Mark Jurga, Allison Kaminski, Alex Killian, Justin Lee, Kelly Lorence, Nicholas Masiello, Chelsea Mazurkiewicz, Ryan McCarthy, Christopher Meyer, Shelbi Milkas, Shannon Moody, Kevin Neary, Jaclyn Nusstein, Jessica Osvath, Emily Pease, Cameron Pezzino, Jack Pilie, Jenna Raepple, Jeremy Rockwood, Paige Rockwood, Chelsea Rupert, Kathleen Rustowicz, Miranda Santa Lucia, Rachel Schauger, Amy Schooping, Michael Seaman, Nicholas Sexton, Michael Sharon, Christopher Shemik, Tara Sozio, Catherine Sponn, Sarah Stewart, Rebecca Sturniolo, Victoria Sutton, Ashley Swiantek, Hayley Szyklinski, Megan Tates, Benjamin Tomkins, Stephen Vitello, Danielle Wegrzyn, Alyssa Yaeger, Jessica Yarnes, Megan Young, Melissa Zytariuk
Grade 12 - Alyssa Accardo, Kaitlyn Affuso, Richard Amantia, Jonathon Anderson, Stephanie Aronica, Elisabeth Asbach, Kimberly Asbach, Catherine Aughey, Alissa Bailey, Benjamin Bakula, Christina Borden, Eric Breier, Anthony Bruno, Sean Burke, Alexandra Buscaglia, Nathan Busch, Victoria Cacciatore, Danielle Canazzi, Evan Carey, Natalie Carpenter, Kenneth Cerrillo, Kaitlyn Chapin, Krystal Chapin, Brittany Cieri, James Cooke, Courtney Cox, Samantha Darby, Renee’ Doermer, Sarah Dolan, Kara Dudley, Maria Edel, Marwa Eltagouri, Kearney Erhard, Nicholas Ernst, Kayla Fermoile, Hillary Figler, Joseph Fischer, Victoria Fleming, Lauren Fonte, Rahsanica Ford, Christopher Franklin, Alexander Fry, Kate Garten, Jonathan Gebhard, Mary George, Sara Grana, Anthony Grande, Maria Grant, Amy Grenke, Maria Guidotti, Brandon Hagen, Susan Head, Tata Hook, Julia Johnston, Raman Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur, Nicholas Kelly, Joel Klock, Lauren Kucharski, Brian Kulak, Savanna Kustra, Jeffrey Lariviere, Joshua Little, Jonathan LoTempio, Michael Lydle, Daniel Major, Thomas McDonnell, Sara McNulty, Jennifer Mellett, Intisar Mohamed, Christopher Moody, Jared Northrup, Ryan Osvath, Courtney Papaj, Deanna Paternostro, Kelsey Patterson, Danielle Perri, Branne Rafferty, Kellsi Rassega, Michael Rayhill, Alexander Re, Ian Rogers, Robert Ross, Anthony Russell, Ashley Rutland, Kaitie Samland, Mary Scherrer, Robert Schiffhauer, Kyle Schutrum, Spencer Seese, Zaeem Shah, Kodie Shamrock, Margaret Shonitsky, Courtney Silsby, Allison Snell, Jamie Sobieski, Benjamin Soos, Vincent Spada, Michael Sperrazza, Amber Spiesz, Jonas Stalyga, Christopher Stessing, Kasey Sumner, Jameela Syed, Caitlin Taylor, Samantha Tilkins, Patricia VeRost, Kristin Wegrzyn, Eric Weigold, Zakiyyah Wilbert, Aria Yanicki
Grand Island High School Merit Roll - Feb. 2010
The following Grand Island High School students have been named to the merit roll for the second quarter, 2009-2010 school year:Grade 9 - Cyle Alcorn, Jessica Amsdill, Paul Arida, Kevin Aronica, Shelby Bailes, Daniel Blocho, Nicholas Bonarek, Dakota Bower, Eli Brennan, Danae-Grace Busch, Allysa Bush, Alyssa Cinelli, Lauren Cook, Cody Csendom, Adam Cummings, Jacob Dixon, Jamie Dobson, Zoe Dodd, Sarah Ernst, Joseph Fanara, Shannon Gallagher, Andrew Gilbert, Nicole Hall, Emily Harnden, John Holody, Megan Hoople, Anthony Huff, Robert Johnson, haley Keane, Alexander Kellner, Stephanie Knight, Matthew Lenz, Mandy Liesenfeld, Cassondra LoBrutto, Alexia Malpica, Taylor Marino, Kayla McDougall, Christina McGuire, Collin McMahon, Taylor Moran, Kimberlee Moss, Grace Olszewski, Matthew Osinski, Michael Palazza, Amanda Passarelli, Dalton Pitts, Kyle Pfetcher, Russell Potter, Alexa Santa Lucia, Matthew Seaman, Christopher Serra, Cole Smith, Nathaniel Smith, Emily Steinbrenner, Matthew Sutton, Codie Thomas, Ashley Tillett, Alexander Tollner, Dominic Tripi, Kayleigh Weselak, Adam Wilk, Nicholas Winger, Elenor Zaccaria, Joshua Zernickel, Anthony Zogaria
Grade 10 - Amir Abdellatif, Megan Ambellan, Jeremy Anderson, Eric Aronica, Jessica Bamberg, Makallie Banker, Elora Bascello, Brianna Beadles, Matthew Beauchamp, Joseph Carrato, Andrew Chorey, Benjamin Cliff, Eric Colon, Mikaela Connors, Natalee Culbert, Bridget Doyle, Matthew Foote, Sean Garten, Olivia Graziano, Morgan Green, Charles Grunzweig, Alexander Hastings, Mackenzie Howe, Lynne Huffnagle, Gabriella Jaramillo, Ashley Johnson, Robert Kerr, Nathan Kulak, Mitchell Lariviere, Cory Ludwig, Marisa Marino, Thalia Melendez, Brendan Mergel, Kyle Meyer, Michelle Morgan, Gabriela Nizialek, Chelsea Null, Samuel Oursler, Marina Pozantides, Kayla Pyc, Brittanee Ramallo, Eric Sander, Jenna Sansalone, Stephanie Senn, Ryan Sharrow, Glenn Skelly, Emily Sommer, Jessica Spiesz, Phyllip Stallard, Keith Starke, Angelina Stromberg, Erica Surdi, Samantha Warden, Benjamin Whitford, Laurice Wilbert, Jessica Young
Grade 11 - Samira Amin, Matthew Arida, Dale Baran, Shannon Becker, Taylor Bedford, Nathaniel Benoit, Christopher Boulden, Kathleen Brady, Nicholas Bruno, Justine Call, Andre Certo, Jason Chadwick, Amandip Cheema, Nicolette Corrao, Samuel Cummings, Austin Dee, Dominique DeGregorio, Robert Dickinson, Liam Dodd, Sara Dzielski, Thomas Dzielski, Matthew Edwards, Christopher Ernst, Geoff Federspiel, Sara Fiedler, Craig Fusco, Patrick Gallagher, Carmela Gentile, Vincent Golda, Amanda Heftka, Angelina Howe, Ryan Jackson, Thomas Kalman, Matthew Killian, Taylor Kozlowski, Bradley Ludwig, Miranda Oursler, Michael Pless, Noah Rothberg, Benjamin Sherman, Rachel Spiker, Allison Stewart, Ambria Tim, Philip Valore, Nicholas Wallinder, Jenelle Walters, Courtney Weiser, Zachary Wojnar, Tyler Wunsch, Richard Yager, Andrew Yockey
Grade 12 - Isam Abdellatif, Sarah Ali, Patrick Antonelli, Adam Asbach, Conrad Baker, Kelsey Bettinger, Patrick Brady, Lisa Braun, Jason Caldwell, Julianna Capizzi, Mary Chiaravalle, Stacy Cich, Ryan Darnley, Jordan Dudish, Alexander Fabiilli, Krista Glownia, Jill Greinert, Chelsea Hall, Timothy Howley, Sara Huttenmaier, Shaughn Irving, Zachary Kelly, Timothy Krecisz, Steven Lillian, Kori Loder, Elizabeth Lorence, Meghan Mahiques, Daniel Mathes, Aman Mattu, Keran Mattu, Nicole McGuire, Christopher Mornelli, Sean O’Donnell, Jessica Randhawa, Keith Skelly, Michael Stallard, Kelly Stark, Rachel Starr, Sean Steele, William Sundeen, Scott Suszczynski, Abram Thompson, Maritina Tsembelis, Brittney Wall, Sara Wilczek, Nicole Winter, Colton Wright, Molly Wynne, Rebecca Zimmerman
GIHS Class of 2013 Fundraiser - Winter 2010
Grand Island High School's Class of 2013 will be hosting a fundraiser at Tully's Restaurant on Niagara Falls Blvd. on Tuesday, March 2nd. The class will get 10% of your total bill (excluding tax and tip). All you have to do is print out the coupon and give it to your server. The coupon is good for the entire day so you can go at any time that is convenient for you and your family.Print COUPON Please consider supporting the Freshmen Class when making your dinner plans for Tuesday, March 2nd!
GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending February 18, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 2/18/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
GIHS Job Search Seminar - Feb. 2010
Left photo: student Chelsea Rupert and Irene Filicetti of M&T Bank
Right photo: student Katie Cobello and Principal of Huth Road School Kerri Nowak
Click photo for larger view
Wouldn't it be great to get feedback on what you did right or wrong during your last job interview? Well, over 80 students from Grand Island High School were interviewed and critiqued at this year's Job Search Seminar held at the Grand Island Holiday Inn on Thursday, February 11th. This unique program enables students to gain job interview skills through authentic one-on-one situations. Interviewers are from all over Western New York and some businesses hire from this event. "In today's tough economy, students from Grand Island High School are given an "edge" over their competition in the job market," according to Mrs. Cheryl Chamberlain, business teacher and coordinator the seminar.In addition, Bryant and Stratton College provided breakout sessions to help students plan for college and prepare for the demands of the workforce. Mrs. Chamberlain would like to thank the Grand Island School and Business Alliance (GISBA) members who serve as an advisory board for the business program at the high school, for all of their support with this program. For more information on exciting internships or other career related programs contact Mrs. Chamberlain at 773-8820.
GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending February 11, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 2/11/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
Alex Strauss - Gazette Feature - Feb. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 2/10/10" story by Nate BeutelMary Scherrer - Gazette Feature - Feb. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 2/10/10" story by Nate BeutelEvan Carey - Gazette Feature - Feb. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 2/10/10" story by Jonah BronsteinEric Wiegold - Gazette Feature - Feb. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 2/4/10" story by Nate BeutelPTSA/Rotary Students of the Month
February 2010
Stacy Cich Maria Edel Anthony Grande
Stacy Cich has been a Grand Island resident for all of her life. She has been enrolled in the Grand Island School District since Kindergarten. During her high school career, Stacy has not only valued academic success, but has also balanced a life filled with various extracurricular activities and community service.
Throughout her middle school and high school years. Stacy has been very involved in sports at Grand Island. In ninth grade Stacy participated on the Indoor Track and Field Team. Stacy has also been a member of the Girls Swimming and Diving team at Grand Island since the seventh grade, and a member of the Varsity team since eight grade. Stacy has also made the sectional qualifying team for swimming for five years. Stacy was captain of the Girls swim team her junior and senior year. She has been the boys' swimming and diving team manager for four years at Grand Island. Stacy has achieved her varsity letter for Girls Swimming and also for being the boys' swimming and diving manager.
Stacy has been very active in her school not only in sports, but also in clubs and activities. She was part of DECA for two years, and achieved national level at competitions. Stacy has been an editor on the Venture Yearbook staff for three years. She also received the PTSA academic award in 2008. Stacy also received the scholar athlete award for swimming in 2007 and 2008. In 2005 to 2006 Stacy was a member of the concert band at the high school.
Stacy has contributed to her community by participating in Carly’s Crossing open water swim for Roswell Park in 2005 and 2009. She has helped teach swimming in the Veronica Connor Middle School Intramural program. Stacy also volunteers annually in Relay for Life to help raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Stacy is currently enrolled in AP psychology. After graduation, she plans to attend a four year college to major in Criminal Justice.
Anthony Grande has been a lifelong resident of Grand Island attending local schools since first grade. He has participated in many different school and community based activities while excelling in many of his classes and consistently maintaining honor roll status.
He participated in J.V. and Varsity Soccer with the honor of having been selected as a Co-Captain on the J. V. squad in tenth grade. He also participated in Track, D.E.C.A., Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, Spot-lighters and Viking Vision (The High School’s own version of the News Cast but without Tom Brokaw). In his junior year while playing trumpet on the Jazz Band, Anthony auditioned and was the only selection to represent Grand Island on All County Band. In addition, this past fall, Anthony was invited to play with the All State Jazz Band at Fredonia State College. Anthony in his junior year was awarded the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for most outstanding jazz musician.
In his interest and pursuit of a future digital media career, Anthony has been involved in assisting Mr. Mark Gorton, the District Audio Visual Technology Specialist with recording the school plays, musicals, news casts and other events that take place at the school and in the community. As a participant in the Spot-lighters, Anthony has been contributing his skills in technology and digital arts by working on the stage crew during his sophomore and junior year. Anthony was given the responsibility of operating the audio system for the “Hobbit” and last year’s “Much Ado about Nothing” performances. In his senior year, Anthony wanted to gain an understanding of the whole process and decided to step out in front of the camera by playing “The Knave of Hearts” in “Alice in Wonderland” and is making an appearance in the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”.
Anthony’s participation in community activities include volunteering for the Annual Rotary Hot Dog and LobsterFest for the past four years, Island Happenings and KidBiz and assisting his Dad in coaching a very successful Grand Island Soccer Club Travel team and is looking forward someday to become the head coach. Anthony also had an opportunity to video tape and edit the “Relay for Life” event on Grand Island that was a tool utilized this year to kick-off this years’ event. Anthony’s college plans are to attend SUNY Alfred State College majoring in Digital Media and Animation in pursuing his passion with the hopes to achieve his goal of working on major motion picture films in front and behind the scenes.
Maria Edel has been a resident of Grand Island all of her life with her parents and two brothers. She has been enrolled in the Grand Island school system since kindergarten, attending Sidway Elementary, Kaegebein Elementary, Veronica E. Connor Middle School, and now Grand Island Senior High School. She challenges herself with her academic curriculum while participating in many extracurricular activities.
Academically, Maria began taking honors classes in Middle School, which led her to take multiple Advanced Placement classes in High School. In her junior year, she was enrolled two Advanced Placement classes consisting of A.P. US History and A.P. Language and Composition. As a senior, she is currently enrolled in six Advanced Placement classes consisting of A.P. Statistics, A.P. Government, A.P. Economics, A.P. Psychology, A.P. Literature and Composition, and College Spanish through Niagara University. While enrolled in these challenging courses, she has consistently maintained a high honor or honor roll GPA. Also, Maria’s hard work has placed her in the top 20% of her class. She has received many awards including an Academic Excellence certificate, pin, varsity letter, and bar; the President’s Academic Award; Pride of the Island; and the Parent Teacher Association Academic Achievement Award. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society.
Aside from her academics, Maria is very involved in extracurricular activities. Her involvement in student government began in Middle School by representing her class as Vice-President. Her leadership role has continued throughout High School as she was elected by her student body to be President of her class for four consecutive years. As president, she enjoys the responsibility and ability to guide her student body. She is also a 2009 graduate of Youth Leadership Erie County, a program that selectively chooses 40 high school students throughout Erie County to promote community awareness as well as develop leadership skills and appreciation for diversity. Maria has been an active member in Grand Island’s Concert Bands since 4th grade playing the clarinet. She shows her school spirit by being a part of the High School Pep Band for all of her four years of high school. Maria also volunteers her time peer mentoring during the school day and has found it to be very rewarding.
Outside of school, Maria volunteers her time as a Dance Teacher Assistant at Step-In-Time Dance Studio on Grand Island. She has assisted young children in the art of dance for 5 years and has been a dancer herself for 16 years, with a focus on tap, jazz, lyrical and ballet. She has volunteered her time at St. Stephen’s Church, People Inc, and the Sidway Family Fun Night over the years. She maintains her impressive academic performance and consistent extracurricular activities while being employed at Adrian’s Custard and Beef and Elderwood Nursing Home.
After graduation, Maria plans to attend college and pursue a major in Elementary Education.
GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending February 4, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 2/4/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
Jeremy Figler Accepts Roster Spot - Feb. 2010
From Left: Karen Figler, Jeremy Figler, GI Varsity Soccer Coach Pete Kuehne and Roman Figler.
Click photo for larger view
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 was a big day at the island home of Karen and Roman Figler. Son Jeremy committed to attend UB and has accepted
a roster spot on the mens team to play soccer. Jeremy has been playing in the position of soccer goal keeper, since he was 8 years old,
following the lead of his older brother Jonathan, who also played between the pipes with the Grand Island Soccer Club. After watching many
soccer games at the University of Buffalo, he thought he would like to play at the collegiate level someday. The road to UB started when Grand Island High School JV soccer
coach and UB Bulls mens soccer alumnus Frank Butcher, received a call from Dave Hesch, UB Associate Head Coach for the Mens Soccer Team
looking for a quality goal keeper. Frank mentioned to Dave that he may want to take a look at Jeremy, who at the time was a sophmore playing varsity
for Grand Island. The rest is history... Jeremy Figler - Goalkeeper, 6' 5" 195 lbs.
STATS: 14 shutouts, 0.57 GAA for the season; 21 career shutouts. Grand Island High School boys soccer season shutout record holder, Niagara Frontier League boys soccer season shutout record holder.
SCOOP: 2009 First team all-Niagara Frontier League...2009 First Team all-WNY...Tri-Captain 2009 season...2009 season team co-mvp..
2009 Niagara Falls Gazette Boys Soccer Player of the Year.....2008 recipient of the Coaches Award...led Vikings to first NFL championship since 1986..
helped GI win its first sectional title since 2003... despite allowing three goals, he had his best performance in the Vikings' Far West Regional loss to V-Pittsford-Mendon.
COACH'S QUOTE: "Each year he has gotten progressively better. He has worked very hard in the offseason to get stronger and sharpen up his all-around skills. His range between the pipes is outstanding. Enough hasn't been said about his leadership skills on and off the field. He's very vocal in net and regulates his teammates in front of him. What's very noticeable about Jeremy is that he really loves and enjoys playing the game. That attitude spread throughout the team and had a lot to do with our success." - Pete Kuehne, GI Boys Varsity Coach
UB Men's Soccer Head Coach, John Astudillo said that, "Dave Hesch and I are quite excited at the prospect of having Jeremy attend UB and have the opportunity to play soccer. Local talent is of utmost importance to us, and having the combination of talent, potential, personality and character is a bonus".
GI Seniors at the NFL Swimming and Diving Championships - Jan. 2010
Click photo for larger view
Click "photo".
Grand Island High School seniors at the NFL Swimming and Diving Championships, Niagara Falls High School, Saturday,
January 30, 2010.GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending January 28, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 1/28/10"
for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
Evan Carey breaks two school swim records
GIHS Musical Thoroughly Modern Miller - Jan. 2010
Grand Island Senior High School students will present the musical production, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" on Thursday, Feb. 4; Friday, Feb. 5; and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Grand Island High School auditorium. For complete details and cast members, see"Modern Millie"
Jonas Stalyga - Career 1000 points - Gazette Feature - Jan. 2010
Jonas Stalyga, a senior at Grand Island High School, ended the Vikings/Lew-Port Basketball game on Friday night, January 15 with a record 1000 points. See "Niagara Gazette 1/15/10" story by Nate BeutelBobby Ross - Gazette Feature - Jan. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 1/21/10" story by Nate Beutel
Thoroughly Modern Millie At GIHS
Grand Island High School will present "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in the high school auditorium on the evenings of February 4th, 5th and 6th at 7:30 p.m. The story is set in the flapper era of the 1920's and focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures and sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss. General admission is $8 and senior citizens are free with i.d. Discount tickets are available: 3 show admissions for $20.00.GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending January 21, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 1/21/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
Incoming 9th Grade Parent Night - 2010
Click Information Letter
The Grand Island High School is hosting an Incoming 9th Grade Parent Night on Thursday, January 28, 2010. The informational meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium.Steve Vitello - Gazette Feature - Jan. 2010
See "Niagara Gazette 1/15/10"GIHS Sports Briefs - Week Ending January 14, 2010
Click "Sports Briefs 1/14/10" for this week's Grand Island High School sports scores.
PTSA/Rotary Students of the Month
January 2010
Rachel Surdi Sarah Dolan Alyssa Accardo
Rachel Surdi was born in Buffalo, NY and has lived on Grand Island for fifteen of her seventeen years. She has been enrolled in the Grand Island Central School district from Kindergarten until the present. Rachel has excelled within the classroom by maintaining steady high-honor or honor roll status throughout both middle and high school. She has been a member of a variety of high school clubs and activities, including DECA, an association of marketing students; the award-winning Venture Yearbook; the community-service oriented Interact Club, Upstate New York Transplant Services-sponsored Donate Life club; and Grand Island’s Ski Club at Holiday Valley. She has held officer positions in these clubs, including a role as co-president of the yearbook staff for 2009-2010 and co-treasurer of DECA for 2008-2009.
Through DECA she qualified for state competition twice, participating in the 2008 as well as the 2009 State Career Conferences in Rochester, NY. During the 2009 competition, she created a 70-page scrapbook to represent Grand Island High School DECA’s accomplishments and won third place in New York State for this chapter scrapbook event. She has also competed in Travel and Tourism, Visual Advertising and Marketing Management events during her three-year participation in this business and marketing club.
Rachel has received several awards for her achievement throughout middle and high school, including the Pride of the Island award, the Presidents’ Award of Academic Achievement, and the Academic Excellence Certificate, Pin, and Letter.
During school, the college classes that Rachel is currently registered for are Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, a full year course, and Erie Community College’s College Success Skills, which takes place for the first semester of her senior year at Grand Island. She has also been enrolled in a transcript-oriented college course for high school students at Bryant and Stratton College in the field she plans to pursue in higher education as well as her career, Interactive Media/Web Design.
Outside of school, Rachel has participated in the local community by volunteering. She participated with her school’s DECA and Interact clubs in sorting holiday donations for the Grand Island Neighbors Foundation for three years. Throughout high school, she has raised funds for the American Cancer Society through participating in Relay for Life, and was captain of her Relay team in June 2009. Rachel also participated as a volunteer day camp counselor for the Town Boys and Girls Clubs’ Camp Te Be Ce at Beaver Island State Park for two years. She has also participated in a youth mentoring program in affiliation with the Grand Island High School business department.
Rachel has been interested in web design since she was eleven years old and taught herself the basic principles of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and graphic manipulation, meaning that she can independently create web pages with ease. She plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Digital Media or a similar major in order to expand her current knowledge and prepare herself for a career in web design.
Sarah Dolan has lived on Grand Island her entire life, and has been enrolled in the Grand Island School District since Kindergarten. She has succeeded academically throughout middle and high school, earning Honor Roll or High Honor Roll every marking period, while taking a rigorous schedule full of honors and AP courses. She has received numerous academic awards, such as the Academic Excellence Certificate, Pin, and Letter, a Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program, and the status of AP Scholar from the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program. Sarah has been very active in Grand Island’s music program throughout the years, participating in Concert Band, Choir, Concert Choir, Wind Ensemble, Madrigals, Jazz Choir, Women of Note, the Pep Band, and the annual Musical, as well as All-County auditions and Solo-fest. Last year, Sarah was accepted into the Grand Island chapter of the National Honor Society. She has also been an active member of DECA for the past two years, and competed at both regional and state levels. She was a winner at the regional DECA competition last year, and is serving as the club Historian this year. For the past two years, Sarah has also been in the Careers in Small Business class. This class opened the Grand Island School Store last year and continues to run the store this year.
Sarah has been participating in Girl Scouts for most of her life, and is currently a member of Troop 1312. Last year she, along with the other members of her troop, completed her Gold Award - the highest award one can earn as a Girl Scout. It was a huge commitment, and required over 140 hours of work. Sarah is also active in the Youth Group at Trinity United Methodist Church. They do several community service projects every year, including a summer work-camp. Sarah attended a Reach Workcamp with them the summer between her freshman and sophomore years. There, she worked with a workcrew of five other teenagers from other parts of the country and built a wheelchair ramp for the house of an elderly woman who previously could not exit her house easily. Sarah is also active in Young Life, a Christian organization for teenagers, and the annual Grand Island Ski Club. This past summer, Sarah worked as a Junior Horseback Riding Instructor at Camp Seven Hills, a resident Girl Scout camp. At this point, Sarah is undecided as to where she wishes to attend college, but plans to major in Business Administration.
Alyssa Accardo is a lifelong resident of Grand Island and has always been an independent and overachieving individual both in school and in life.
Alyssa has consistently been on the honor and high honor roll since sixth grade. She has challenged herself academically by enrolling in honors and AP classes. Her hard work and dedication led to her induction into the National Honor Society in her junior year. Alyssa has been a recipient of PTSA Academic Awards, Scholar Athlete awards and Pride of the Island award.
Along with her strong academic record, Alyssa has been involved in many extracurricular activities. She has played the clarinet for nine years, the last three years in Wind Ensemble. She has been involved in the school musical since sixth grade and Spotlighters Drama Club in high school. She has been a member of the JV/Varsity Tennis Team throughout high school. She has also participated in Art Club, Ski Club, Student Olympics, Class of 2010 fundraising activities, and captain of a Relay for Life Team for the past three years. Alyssa has been dancing for twelve years and in 2005, was selected as a dancer and performer in the opening number for the nationally televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Alyssa has a great passion for art. In 2007, she was selected to participate in the New York State Summer School for the Arts, a month-long program held at Fredonia State College. She was one of 120 students selected from more than 600 applications from high school students across the state. Selection was based on submission of a portfolio of work to a panel of jurists. She spent her day in drawing, painting and sculpture classes. The evening activities included art history lessons and presentations from visiting artists. Alyssa was awarded a scholarship from the Allentown Arts Society to attend the program.
Giving back to the community is also very important to her. She has been a volunteer in a food pantry, and on various clothing and toy drives. She has participated in community service activities as a member of the National Honor Society. Alyssa has donated art works and has been involved in fundraising art auctions for various organizations. Her art work donated to the Art for Heart charity auction received the highest bid.
After graduation, Alyssa plans to attend college to pursue her interest in art.
GIHS Wins Tech War - Jan. 2010
See "Buffalo News 1/14/10"
High School News – January 2010
Story By Marwa Eltagouri (Senior) - Student Writer
See DECA Story 1/14/10Not in DECA, What the Hecka? - Jan. 2010
Winners: Ben Soos, Advisor Cheryl Chamberlain, Ben Bakula, Mike Seaman
(right) Megan Kaarpie, Dicision Making
If you don't know by now, DECA is an International business and marketing club dedicated
to high school students who want to be ready for the world of work! This past Sunday,
January 10th, 50 Grand Island High School students competed in DECA categories such as:
Decision Making, Business Law, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Public Speaking.
All in all, 21 students advanced to the New York State level by placing in the top six
of their event. Region 12 DECA is comprised of 15 local high schools and is the only
region in New York to offer students the same experience as State level competition due
to the number of local business people who come out to judge our role-play events. The
advisors of our WNY high schools seek out the best in the business world to help our
students achieve their potential in their career areas. Mrs. Cheryl Chamberlain and
Mr. Christopher Simpson co-advise DECA at Grand Island High School and are very proud
of the students and their accomplishments. Judges this year from Grand Island were:
Mr. George Casey, Mrs. Cheryl Cardone, Mrs. Mary Cooke, Mrs. Maggie Kennedy,
Mr. Mark Gorton, and Mr. Paul Thompson. Additional thanks go to Mrs. Laura Briganti,
Mr. Eric Cahoon, Miss Kathryn Raiser, Miss Kathryn Cobello, Miss Amy Grenke, and
Miss Lauren Fonte (Regional Representative) for all of their help with this event!High School Girls Named To All-State Soccer Team - Jan. 2010
Buffalo News . . .The 2009 All-New York State girls soccer team boasts 24 players from Western New York among its five classes. Named to the first team was senior Katie Griffin of Williamsville East, junior Jenna Raepple of Grand Island and senior Caitie Pfeiffer of Holland.Class A — First team: Jenna Raepple (Grand Island)
Fourth team: Jeannie Taylor-11 (Grand Island)
