Bottle Cap Drive a Success for RFH Environmental Club

by Devin

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Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School is known for the charities that it supports every year for different companies, fundraisers, and others. This year one of the fundraisers led by the Environmental Club was the Bottle Cap Drive. Jessie Yorke, Torri Hutner, and Meghan Drastal are all junior officers who went above and beyond with this charity. Mrs. Pagano, as well as Mrs. Laviola, both science teachers at RFH, are the advisors of the club. The two teachers and all their pupils in the club have a goal.

This goal is met by the club always following their mission statement: “Actively engage in efforts to promote awareness about environmental issues and foster good stewardship practices within our  school and community.”

This fundraiser was established to raise money for a young man who recycles the bottle caps to support diabetes research. Each lunch was assigned a bin in the cafeteria, and for 2 weeks, each period was meant to collect as many bottle caps as possible.  The lunch period that collected the most caps received free cookies on Friday March 2^nd.

After the drive’s final day, the winning lunch was 5^th period.  The members of the Environmental Club felt that the drive was a success, and were happy to assist in diabetes research and funding.

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Dr. Seuss: A Legacy of Rhyme and Whimsy

by Devin

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Read Across America, held each year on March 2nd, marks the birth of Dr. Seuss by encouraging young children to read.  This year, the Storytelling Club, advised by Mrs. Kaplan, travelled to Red Bank Elementary School to read stories to small children.  The Lorax, an allegory about taking care of the environment, was his year’s story of focus, in part because of the recent release of the film version. 

The 2012 Storytelling Club

Dr. Seuss is a man that almost all children have grown up knowing, and we each have our favorite story.  Some of us laugh at the curious antics of The Cat in the Hat, while others enjoy the maniacal man grene monster whose heart grows 3 sizes in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  Whatever your favorite, Dr. Seuss has found a way to influence you and inspire a love of reading. 

However, as I reflected upon this day, I also began to wonder about the man behind the persona. 

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in 1904 on March 2 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  His main influence was his mother. When he was little she would often “chant” rhymes remembered from her youth. Many of his books are also inspired by his hometown of Springfield. As a teen, Seuss attended Dartmouth College and became editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Latern, a humor magazine at Dartmouth.  During the time that he was there ,Seuss managed to get into some trouble.

Due to some disciplinary actions, he began to sign “Seuss” on his pieces so the administration wouldn’t identify him as the author. After Dartmouth, Seuss ventured to Oxford University to begin studying, became bored with his studies, and went to study abroad in Europe.

As Seuss became older he wanted to join the army so he could go to war in WWII. He was too old to draft into the war so he made training movies instead. While making the movies, he was introduced to the art of animation and developing illustrations. Seuss also continued to work with Life, Vanity Fair, Judge, and other magazines.

After he began to get noticed, he wrote and illustrated his first book entitled And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street. This book was rejected 27 times before it became published. However, it was the book The Cat in the Hat caused Dr. Seuss’s career to skyrocket. The Sneetches, an earlier book, was again inspired by his hometown of Springfield. The truck driver in this book was most likely inspired by the Knox tractor he saw as a young boy in the streets of his birthplace.

Dr. Seuss has encouraged many directors to make movies, beginning with the 1953 movie The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. The movie follows the same lines as The Wizard of Oz. Newer movies that may be noticeable How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, and Horton Hears a Who.

Dr. Seuss has motivated many people across the world. An author who went through endless editing and writing jobs became one of the most popular writers.  Happy reading, America!

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Photograph courtesy of Mrs. Kaplan

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Bullying Policy Upgrade at RFH

by Devan

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The administration of Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School has stepped up to the plate with New Jersey’s recent bullying legislation.  RFH has always responded to bullying with necessary precautions and consequences, but beginning in September, additional measures will be taken to ensure that RFH is a school of respect and consideration.

New Jersey’s new law states that all schools must have anti-bullying rules established, as well as a protocol for reporting and investigating acts of harassment, intimidation, and bullying.  Administrators, including Vice Principal Lanzalotto, have responded to this new legislation with full support.

Tyler Clementi committed suicide after being bullied

“Anything helping kids and allowing them to come to school every day is a fantastic idea, ” Lanzalotto stated.

The state’s goal is to keep every child comfortable and safe in school.  However, some question the level to which this invades students’ privacy, as well as their right to it.  Others, still, believe that these steps are not enough.

Regardless, students will be held accountable for their actions at RFH.   ”You are accountable for your actions and those should be a loud to question,” commented Lanzalotto.

Mr. Lippart, a guidance councelor at RFH, is working with Mr. Lanzalotto to investigate acts of bullying within the school.  However, other measures are being taken to cultivate this community of respect.  During Respect Week, tickets were distributed to all grade levels as well as faculty and staff. These tickets were used as a way to quantify and reward students’ respectful actions during the week.  The most respectful student and staff member were honored and rewarded for their behavior.

Respect Week, and other initiatives taken by schools across New Jersey, have partially been a response to recent and devestating consequences due to school bullying.  For example, Rutgers student Tyler Clementi committed suicide last year after being bullied for his sexual orientation.   At a conference with the First Lady last March, President Obama stated he was going to take action and make it a country-wide law for every state to follow.

When asked why this was so important, the President responded, “Because it’s something that happens a lot, and it’s something that’s always been around, sometimes we’ve turned a blind eye to the problem. We’ve said ‘Kids will be kids.’ And so sometimes we overlook the real damage that bullying can do,” he said.

Yes, some students may think Respect Week is silly and will not  do anything ,but we must remain optimistic.  New Jersey is one of the first states to embrace this legislation in the hope that  other states will follow in our footsteps.

Do your part-learn more, and help educate others.

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Resources:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/10/news/la-heb-obama-bullying-conference-20110310

Images:  http://www.cbsnews.com/i/tim/2010/10/01/Tyler-Clementi23w.jpg

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‘Footloose:’ Not Quite the Original

by Devan

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The new Footloose was a box office gold ticket.  Relesased in September this year, the film met some opposition, as it was a remake of the 1980′s favorite staring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, and John Lithgow.  However, it rose to the challenge and was a success.

Julianne Hough plays Ariel Moore, a preacher’s daughter in a small town where dancing is forbidden.  The rebellious Ren MacCormack, played by Kenny Wormwald, moves to the town from Bostom, massachusetts and stirs things up just in time for the senior prom.

Some positives to this movie was the dancing and acting.  The dancing was spot-on and showed much enthusiam.   It stayed true to the original, and matched it in excitement.  The movie in itself was good; it was similar to the original in more than one way. Many of the scenes are the like the original film,  including the actors’ wardrobes.

While the film was a success, there were some elements I found disappointing.  The accents were flat and lacked realism.  Wormald’s Boston accent, for instance, was unsuccessfully portrayed.  Watching Hough was equally difficult because she doesn’t have the southern accent that other characters do.  This was equally frustrating because the southern atmosphere established by the setting was well done.

Overall the movie was fantastic and had many interesting compliments toward the original.  While it is no longer in theaters, it will be worth renting OnDemand and from Netflix in the upcoming months.

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Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Footloose2011Poster.jpg

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Movie Remakes: Double Trouble

by Devan

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Remakes….every movie seem to require one these days.  Whether it’s Halloween featuring Michael Meyers or Footloose with rebellious teens, these remakes are sprouting up everywhere.

Remakes are inevitable in the world of movie production. They also inevitably result in money in the bank for the directors, producers and actors. But, some may ask, how?  They’re merely the same story told again…and usually not as well.

What’s the point of a remake?  Have directors completely lost their minds?  Or are they so money-hungry that they have forgotten originality?

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• Halloween- The classic horror movie
o A tale of a homicidal boy, a horrified neighborhood, and the victims
The various adventures of Michael Myers are always the same, but for some reason John Carpenter decided, “hey let’s make eight movies to follow up the first one.”   I understand that  a second, maybe even a third, but eight movies to clarify that Michael will never die no matter what weapon you use against him? Let’s be realistic for a minute, yes the first one was great and well directed but there is no need for more than three max.

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• The Thing
o A creepy alien who takes over human bodies to attack other humans
Let’s face it. Directors and producers have lost it. A movie called The Thing is one note but to remake it is just plain silly. The directors should maybe take recognition as to how it’s called THE THING not The Thing(s)!

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• Ocean’s 11
o An ex con breaking parole to rob multiple casinos at once
The original Ocean’s 11 had Frank Sinatra as the main character. Enough said. Yes ladies, George Clooney is SO handsome and nothing against Clooney but there is no way that he can ever top Frank Sinatra, especially at robbing multiple casinos at once. I mean how many movies do you need to make before you realize no one can top Sinatra?

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• Nightmare on Elm St.
o A killer who gets you in your dreams
In 1984, millions of people were scarred when the deformed killer came to movie theaters everywhere. “Looking back on this mark in movie history you can’t help but think of the famous quote “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you, three, four, better lock door” was the scariest thing you could say to a person. I can see why this movie didn’t do as well as the remake it’s because they took out the classic feel out of the movie! I applaud the fact that you didn’t plagiarize and had the grace to keep it original to an extent but sometimes it is a good idea to keep the classic scare involved.

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• The War of the Worlds
o Aliens invading the Earth to take over mankind
Tom Cruise. That’s the movie in a nutshell. The remake of The War of the Worlds was just another way for directors and Tom Cruise to make more money. There is never a reason to remake a movie….unless Tom Cruise is in it, of course. Aliens invading Earth…how original.

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Images:

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTM.jpg
http://kimikofoo.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/poster3.jpg
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyNDk0ODQ3OF5BMl5B.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Streetposter.jpg
http://www.signis.net/malone/img/wiki_up/war.jpg

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