Final Math-Science Seminar

by Jack Hutton

The next Math-Science Seminar (the final one of this academic year) will be taking place this upcoming Wednesday, June 10th, in the high school auditorium at 7:00 P.M. It will last approximately one hour.

Steve Aldrich, a 1973 graduate of Bronxville High School and a 1978 graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Evolutionary Biology, will be presenting the following:

“Rising Waters: A Process to Prepare for the Impacts of Climate Change.” Steve will present the methodology and results of a year-long multi-stakeholder process to strengthen the capacity of Hudson Valley communities to withstand the expected impacts of climate change, and discuss how the method and results apply to the Bronxville community.

Everyone is welcome to attend: family, friends, colleagues.

More information:

Steve Aldrich is a graduate of Bronxville High School (1973), and the founder and President of Bio Economic Research Associates LLC (bio-eraTM).

After graduating from BHS, Steve went on to study evolutionary biology at Harvard College (1978) before entering a career in business. In 1984, he joined Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) where he co-founded and developed the natural gas practice over a 15 year period, serving as an analyst and advisor to major energy companies and others on strategic issues in the North American natural gas industry. In 2000, he left CERA to help found Powersteering Software, Inc., before launching bio-era in 2002. Bio-era is an independent research and consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and serving a broad range of corporate, non-profit, and government clients. The firm’s mission is to provide independent, expert research and consulting services on the social and economic consequences of human-induced change to biological systems. The firm has four principal practice areas:

• Infectious Disease Emergence
• Enabling Biotechnology
• Biofuels
• Climate Change

Steve is the author or co-author of numerous articles, books, and reports including:

“Using Scenarios to Understand the Impact of an Avian Influenza Pandemic” (2005)
“Genome Synthesis and Design Futures: Implications for the US Economy” (2007)
“The Big Squeeze: New Fundamentals for Food and Fuel Markets” (2008)
“Rising Waters: Helping Hudson Valley Communities Adapt to Climate Change” (2009)

More to be found at: www.bio-era.net

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Bronxville Heroes: Pat Kelly

by Kayalyn Kibbe

Another great person working at our school is Pat Kelly. Pat works in our cafeteria and is always making others smile. She answered a few questions I had in order to get to know her better.

Name: Pat Kelly
Kayalyn: How long have you been working at Bronxville?

Pat: 4 years now. I used to work at Briarcliff and Pelham before coming to Bronxville

K: Where are you from?

P: I’m from City Island.

K: Whats your favorite type of music?

P: I like the Oldies and everything but rap- I don’t know what they are talking about in rap.

K: Do you have any favorite movies?

P: No, not really.

K: What are your hobbies?

P: Other than taking care of my house, I like to read. I’m a housewife and a mother. I also go to plays. That’s a good hobby. I just saw Funny Girl last week.

K: Would you recommend it?

P: Oh yes. It was an excellent musical.

K: What’s your favorite season?

P: I like winter and spring. Im not a fan of summer- I don’t like the heat, even though I live right on the water.

K: What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

P: I like chocolate.

K: What’s your favorite color?

P: I like the earth tones.

K: Do you have any words of wisdom for the graduating class?

P: I wish them all a lot of luck. They need to keep focused because it’s a tough world out there. Be aware of everything. If they keep their noses to the grindstone they’ll be fine. This is a really good class. They are polite and caring and they are good to people. They are always interesting to talk to. I think they are going to go far. They all have beautiful personalities. I feel that I’m going to read about some great accomplishments from this grade. They are really good kids

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Tony Award Predictions

by Lauren Harrington

This Sunday, the 63rd annual Tony Awards will celebrate another year in Broadway theatre. This year's show is hosted by none other than Neil Patrick Harris (an actor famous for being awesome on the TV show How I Met Your Mother) who was last on Broadway when he starred in the revival of Assassins in 2006. The show will be worth watching for that alone in my opinion. But the Tony Awards are always a great event anyway- showcasing the best of the best in theatre. As far as nominations go this year, Billy Elliot earned the most, being nominated for 15 awards. So who's going to win each award? Here are my predictions.

Best Play:

Nominees- Dividing the Estate (Horton Foote), God of Carnage (Yasmina Reza), Reasons to Be Pretty (Neil LaBute), and 33 Variations (Moises Kaufman)

Who Will Win- God of Carnage written by Yasmine Reza. Though I haven't seen this play yet, the reviews have been absolutely stellar. The cast is phenomenal and has been described as tense and explosive. Sounds great.


Best Musical:

Nominees- Billy Elliot: The Musical, Next to Normal, Rock of Ages, and Shrek the Musical

Who Will Win- Billy Elliot: The Musical. This show was a smash hit on the West End in London and has been just as successful here. The choreography alone makes this show worthy of the Best Musical award.


Best Revival of a Play:

Nominees- Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Mary Stuart, the Norman Conquests, and Waiting for Godot

Who Will Win- The Norman Conquests. An epic play that must be viewed in three parts, The Norman Consquests is a comedy about family dynamics. It's hilarious, well-directed, and well-acted. Perfect recipe for a Tony win.


Best Revival of a Musical:

Nominees- Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey, and West Side Story

Who Will Win- Hair. This classic hippie-generation musical has been given new life, bringing the audience back to the turbulence of the 60's while still remaining accessible to those who don't remember that era.


Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play:

Nominees- Jeff Daniels (God of Carnage), Raul Esparza (Speed-the-Plow), James Gandolfini (God of Carnage), Geoffrey Rush (Exit the King), and Thomas Sadoski (Reasons to Be Pretty)

Who Will Win- Geoffrey Rush. Rush plays King Berenger in this play, being funny while reminding the audience constantly and consistently of death. Not an easy feat and surely worthy of a Tony.


Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play:

Nominees- Hope Davis (God of Carnage), Jane Fonda (33 Variations), Marcia Gay Harden (God of Carnage), Janet McTeer (Mary Stuart), and Harriet Walter (Mary Stuart)

Who Will Win- Marcia Gay Harden. God of Carnage's chances for scoring a Tony look pretty good but it's most likely to go to Marcia Gay Harden for playing the high-minded writer.


Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:

Nominees-David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish (Billy Elliot: The Musical, in which they shared the role of Billy), Gavin Creel (Hair), Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek The Musical), Constantine Maroulis (Rock of Ages), and J. Robert Spencer (Next to Normal)

Who Will Win- David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish. These three young boys each shine in the role of Billy, performing incredible feats of dancing that seem way beyond their years.


Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical:

Nominees- Stockard Channing (Pal Joey), Sutton Foster (Shrek the Musical), Allison Janney (9 to 5: The Musical), Alice Ripley (Next to Normal), and Josefina Scaglione (West Side Story)

Who Will Win- Alice Ripley. Ms. Ripley plays a manic-depressive housewife in this new musical and is at the heart of the show's compassion and intensity.


Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play:

Nominees- John Glover (Waiting for Godot), Zach Grenier (33 Variations), Stephen Mangan (The Norman Conquests), Paul Ritter (The Norman Conquests), and Roger Robinson (Joe Turner's Come and Gone)

Who Will Win- Roger Robinson. Mr. Robinson was a strong presence in the main role of this play about a generation of African-Americans trying to move past slavery 50 years after their emancipation.


Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play:

Nominees- Hallie Foote (Dividing the Estate), Jessica Hynes (The Norman Conquests), Marin Ireland (Reasons to be Pretty), Angela Lansbury (Blithe Spirit), and Amanda Root (The Norman Conquests)

Who Will Win- Angela Lansbury. Lansbury was an absolutley ridiculous ball of energy, dancing around the stage with reckless abandon. When Lansbury is on the stage it's almost impossible to watch anyone else.


Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:

Nominees- David Bologna (Billy Elliot: The Musical), Gregory Jbara (Billy Elliot: The Musical), Marc Kudisch (9 to 5: The Musical), Christopher Sieber (Shrek The Musical), and Will Swenson (Hair)

Who Will Win- Gregory Jbara. Jbara took on the role of the reluctant father of Billy. He showed the many struggles (both internal and external) the father was experiencing with great skill and was positively charming when he finally came over to Billy's side.


Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:

Nominees- Jennifer Damiano (Next to Normal), Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot: The Musical), Karen Olivo (West Side Story), Marth Plimpton (Pal Joey), and Carole Shelley (Billy Elliot: The Musical)

Who Will Win- Karen Olivo. In the role of Anita, Olivo delivers a fiery and powerful performance.


Best Direction of a Play:

Nominees- Phyllida Lloyd (Mary Stuart), Bartlett Sher (Joe Turner's Come and Gone), Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage), and Matthew Warchus (The Norman Conquests)

Who Will Win- Matthew Warchus for The Norman Conquests. If you're going to direct a three-part comedy with each part over two hours, you better know what you're doing. Mr. Warchus certainly does and deserves the Tony for this monster of a play.


Best Direction of a Musical:

Nominees- Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot: The Musical), Michael Greif (Next to Normal), Kristin Hanggi (Rock of Ages), and Diane Paulus (Hair)

Who Will Win- Stephen Daldry. As often happens with movies and the Oscars, it is common for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical to go hand in hand. This makes perfect sense considering that the success of a show relies heavily on who is directing it. Looks like a win-win for Billy Elliot.

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Talent Night: Oh What A Night!

by Richard Bastuck

Every year, the Bronxville Youth Council organizes a talent show to raise funds for their cause, as well as to showcase some of the talent our school has to offer. Although I’ve never been to one of these shows, I found an interest in participating in it this year. Despite being in two of the acts that performed last Friday, I didn’t know whom else to expect in the show until that night. There was a dress rehearsal on Thursday the 21st, but I went to a Bruce Springsteen concert instead, which was totally awesome by the way.

So Friday was interesting for me, since I didn’t know who else I’d see on the stage. The show itself was divided into two parts: an early show for elementary and middle schoolers, followed by the high school show. The Elementary/Middle School show was followed by a 15-minute intermission, during which the high schoolers prepared for their acts and an entirely new audience appeared.

The evening show commenced with Amanda Tarangioli dancing to “Shake It.” I personally did not see this act, but I heard it was a good way to get the crowd pumped. The next act was one that featured Niki Balac and yours truly. If you’re as big a fan of Scrubs as Niki and I are, you probably would have enjoyed our a’cappella rendition of “Guy Love,” a song about two guys who learn not to be ashamed of their bromance. Since I was part of that act, I won’t judge it myself because I am clearly biased and thought it was awesome. The crowed seemed to enjoy it, though.

The third act was Martin Bonventre, performing a very original interpretation of The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” Martin brought his enthusiasm to the performance, implementing all kinds of interesting vocal techniques I couldn’t predict. Being quite familiar with the original song, there were times when I couldn’t even recognize what he was singing. Like I said, it was a very original interpretation.

The next performance of the night was Sara Winant, who sang and played piano for “Thinking of You” by Katy Perry. While I’m the opposite of the Katy Perry fan, Sara delivered the song beautifully and in such a way that I got really into it. Admittedly, however, I did not know at the time what she was playing. I enjoyed it nonetheless, and also add that Sara has a wonderfully strong voice, of which we should expect to hear more in the furture.


In between two of the acts the audience was given a very special surprise performance. A man walked out on stage in total darkness and began flailing around a pair of glow sticks, demonstrating mad skills. This man was none other than PE coach and Health teacher Matt Fisher! I was very impressed with his various tricks and couldn’t help but get excited. All I can say to that performance is “Go Blue!”

The remaining two acts were two bands: Nine18 and The Pryde. Before I go into details about them, I should make a point that there were numerous technical difficulties that prolonged the bands’ setup times. This became a real problem for MCs Justice Kibbe and Jack Begert, for it was up to them to keep the audience entertained in between acts. This problem was experienced before both bands were ready to play. Nine18 went on first.

Nine18 is a new group made up of Luke Connors, Niki Balac, Blaze Lassiegne, Andrew Walsh, and Alex Hartwell. This talent show was their first performance, and I could tell they were pretty nervous. They played two songs: a cover of “Splinter” by Velvet Revolver, and an original called “Moonlight Sundancing.” From backstage I thought they sounded fine. They’re just starting out so I’d give them some time to develop their style.

The final group was The Pryde, a band that has been making a big impression on Bronxville since earlier in the school year. The musicians who make up this group are Kuba Kierlanczyk, George Hider, David “Stan” Blanco, Justin Romeo, and John Aurelio from Fordham Prep. I had the honor of playing with them in their opening song, the Pokémon Theme Song. I was very happy about this because I got the idea over the summer and proposed it to them early in October. After months of waiting, I finally got to do it. Overall I’d say it went very well; the audience loved it, despite my one voice crack. After I was done, The Pryde kept up with the 90’s motif and played a cover of Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” which was also a real crowd-pleaser, as one can imagine. They had plans to play two of their original songs and have Justin play a beastly drum solo, but they were told right before going onstage that their time had been cut short, limiting them to two songs. That was a shame, not only because I love their music, but also because I would’ve had a tambourine solo in one of them!

I encourage more people to attend next year to support friends and the Bronxville Youth Council!

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Panic Button Improv Show

by The Panic Button

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AP Art Gallery

Click above to view the 2009 AP Art Portfolios. 

The portfolios are being hosted on The Echo Galleries: bhsecho.com/gallery

If you have any visual art you would like to see displayed on The Echo Galleries, please contact The Echo Staff via email: bhsecho@gmail.com.

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Bronxville Heroes: Robert Lowrie

by Kayalyn Kibbe

As my time at Bronxville comes to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about my four years at this high school: the friends who stuck by me, the teachers who inspired me, and more recently, the amazing people who work at our school. We see them every day - whether they’re ringing up our breakfasts in the cafeteria or keeping our halls safe and clean. These are the unsung heroes of Bronxville High School and they are some of the nicest, most interesting people you’ll ever meet. This week, I’d like to focus on Robert Lowrie. I wanted to ask him a few question to get to know him better. Here is my interview with Robert, a man better known as Bobby.

Kayalyn: How long have you worked at the Bronxville School?

Bobby: I’ve been here since 1999.

K: Where are you from originally?

B: I’m from the Bronx.

K: What kind of music do you like to listen to?

B: I like Latin, Rap, and I like jazz. That’s it.

K: Have you seen any good movies lately?

B: My favorite movie is Far and Away. I want to see the new Terminator movie but I haven’t yet.

K: Do you have a favorite sports team?

B: The Lakers!

K: What’s your favorite food?

B: I love lasagna.

K: Any crazy things happen to you during your time in our school?

B: Nothing really. It’s nice and smooth in Bronxville.

K: Finally, do you have any words of wisdom for our graduating seniors?

B: Stay away from drugs, and stay away from people that aren’t trying to do the right thing. I wish everyone the best!

As you can see, Bobby is a really great guy. He is always ready with a kind word and a cheerful smile to brighten everyone’s day. I encourage all of you to get to know the people around you at Bronxville - you may be surprised with what you find out. As for Bobby, I’d like to thank him for being so kind to me and wish him luck on sanding the floors at his new house.

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Wyatt Sparks: Bronxville’s Very own Tiger Woods

by Dayton Flannery

It’s the Sectional Championships and a young man dressed in khaki pants and a bronco blue polo is crouching on the green of the 18th hole. He’s only yards away from achieving his dream and the only thing standing in his way is a slight breeze and a green breaking to the left. The young man reads the putt. He takes his stance and issues a firm stroke, gently sending his Callaway golf ball towards the cup. Everything is silent. The ball creeps its way along the green and falls into the hole making that really cool clunking noise. A crescendo of cheers erupts from the crowd as the young golfer falls to his knees, puts his face in his hands and cries tears of joy. Wyatt Sparks achieved All-Section, just as he was destined to.

On May 21, Wyatt Sparks prepared to play in the Section 1 Golf championships at the Metropolis Country Club. The Williams-bound senior had already played in the first round at the Casperkill Country Club and finished in the top sixty, a result that allowed him to advance to the final round. To his own standards, Sparks finished this season with success when he finished in the top twenty after the final round on the Metropolis golf course. The top nine finishers earned a spot on the section 1 state team, but no less impressive was Sparks all-section status. He said that it had been a goal of his all season long.

Playing in a league consisting of schools such as, Blind Brook, Edgemont, Pelham, Eastchester, and Byram Hills, the Bronxville Boys Varsity Golf team finished their season strong. “As a team, one of my goals was to have a strong season,” says Sparks. The varsity golf team completed their season with a record of 10-8, finishing it with a winning streak. Wyatt didn’t fail to mention that the team’s success wasn’t only due to his individual achievements but also the triumphs of his fellow teammates. According to Sparks, freshmen Angus McLean and Ian Palfrey show a lot of potential and were standouts this season. Junior Travis Sprague won the Conference Championships and, “will make a great captain next year,” says Wyatt.

Since he has demonstrated excellence on the golf course, Sparks is attending Williams College next year and is playing on the golf team there. Without a doubt, Wyatt demonstrated exactly why he will be playing NCAA golf with his performance at the Sectional Championships. As described earlier, Sparks putted his way to victory, of course using his favorite club: the putter. Wyatt couldn’t help but tell me, “My favorite club is the putter because I like to finish.” That you did Wyatt, that you did.

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The Choice Club

by Nina Goldman

Abortion is a topic that when brought up can lead to a full history class of argument. Opinions vary widely from person to person. At Bronxville, students leaning towards the pro-life end of the spectrum have long been able to join the Respect Life club. But what of those students who think differently?

Enter the Choice Club. This new club was founded recently by a group of seniors to whom, in the words of senior member Meghan Rossini, “It became apparent that [a pro-choice club] was necessary in the school.”

“The Choice Club was essentially started because there wasn’t a club for people who were interested in discussing choice in a school setting,” says senior member Paige Grand Pre.

Meetings are held in Ms. Gersten’s room. There, students discuss all aspects of reproductive rights. A current primary focus of the club is improving sexual education in the school in regards to safe sex and STDs. Members hope to place educational pamphlets around the school as well as encouraging health teachers to advise their students of safe sex practices so that maybe girls “won’t have to make that choice [of whether or not to have an abortion].”

Ilya Dubinsky, a sophomore who will help run the club next year, called Choice Club “a club that allows students to express their opinions.” However, there are two sides to every issue, and some students are upset and angry at this club’s mere existence.

“I don’t think it is acceptable to have a club in this school that accepts the brutal murder of innocents,” says one student, during a heated debate on the subject.

However, Ms. Gersten would like to remind upset students that it “is a pro-choice club, not a pro-abortion club.” And as long as pro-life students have the right to oppose abortion, members of the Choice Club have the right to express their opinions as well.

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