Monthly Archives: June 2023
Seniors Relive Their Best Moments
Lola Karimi ’25
EE Staff Writer
2023 graduates march into the ceremony on June 13th.
When it comes to football and soccer games, pep rallies, prom looks, and scavenger hunts (not affiliated with Trumbull High School), our seniors do it best!
After speaking with seniors, it turns out that their class of 512 students is more similar then they may presume..
Many seniors mentioned their best moments being joining clubs or sports. “Best Buddies changed what I want to do with my future and I am so happy that I got to meet so many awesome people from it,” said senior Gabby Presutto. “The buddies constantly put a smile on my face!”.
“The best memory of my senior year and high school in general is Powder Puff!” senior Francesca Lemma said. “The game was especially memorable because it was in the pouring rain. It’s a memory from high school I’ll never forget.”
Whether an athlete or intellectual (or both), most seniors agreed the highlight of senior year was a moment of self-discovery. “The best moment of my senior year was finding the college I’m going to spend the next 4 years at,” Sienna Hoefer said. “It was a stressful, but exciting experience”.
What is a better way to remember your high school years then to make memorable moments with your whole class? “I’ll always remember the senior sunrise in September,” said Maggie Carley. “I’ve always been a morning person, and even though a lot of my friends aren’t, I loved coming to school early with blankets and comfy clothes, and spending some time in the quiet with my friends”.
Moments like this made the reality of senior year hit our seniors. “I remember driving past the football field into the parking lot that morning, and seeing the “2023” lit up on the scoreboard was such a surreal feeling”, Carley said. “I think something special about the event was that it was our first activity as a full senior class this year, so it gave us all a moment to take everything in before our last year of high school started”.
“The best moment of my senior year was decision day where we all got to take pictures and wear our college shirts to school”, Maura Carbone said, “We got to celebrate the last moments of high school together and spend the final bell all together”.
From beginning to end, the senior class of 2023 made every day a moment to remember. Wishing all the best to the senior class as they split their ways!
Middle Schools Clash in the THS Geography Competition
Cy Pavlov ’24
EE Staff Writer
May 20th saw the kickoff of the First Annual Middle School Geography Competition between students of Madison and Hillcrest Middle School at the Trumbull High School campus. After much hard work and dedication by both sides, Madison’s team came out on top with a very narrow victory.
The competition was started in response to Central Connecticut State University’s decision to cancel their geography challenge for high school students, which the Trumbull High School Geography Club regularly takes part in. Under the guidance of Advisor Mrs. Brienza and Officer Matthew Wick (‘23), the club started its own local competition between middle schools to keep the club active during the unprecedented cancellation.
The Middle School Geography Competition came in good timing as well, since the geography bee that middle school students would regularly participate in was canceled ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the competition would provide Trumbull middle school students with a new opportunity to demonstrate and nurture their knowledge of geography.
Much like the CCSU competition, the Middle School Geography Competition has three stages: acrostics, orienteering, and the quiz bowl. The acrostics stage functions much like a crossword puzzle with students answering with interlocking terms for successive questions. The orienteering phase sees students navigate around the Trumbull High School campus, locating landmarks by using a compass and pacing themselves to measure their distance. Finally, all students reconvene for the quiz bowl where questions are read off and each group of students gives an answer which is judged by an advisor sitting at each group’s table.
Also akin to the high school competition, the middle school competition has a central theme which most of the questions are based around. The theme chosen for this year was pop culture, which discusses famous people, topics in entertainment, current events, and other cultural phenomena all around the world.
Almost the entire competition and all of the events that lead up to it were organized by the students participating in the Geography Club. Such activities included making the questions that would be featured on the day of the challenges (some of which even came from yours truly), setting up decorations, and signing, as well as hosting informational meetings at both Madison and Hillcrest Middle School to generate interest.
The ACE Foundation, which normally supports the high school geography challenge, also provided funding for various resources needed for the project to get off the ground.
The day of the event went without a hitch (despite the rain threatening to hamper the orienteering activities), with Hillcrest and Madison students neck-and-neck the entire day. Ultimately, Madison’s team won the day by only 1/3rd of a point (581 vs 580.67) with the highest-achieving groups for each middle school being Team 3 from Hillcrest and Team 5 from Madison, scoring 151 and 157.5 points respectively. After Madison won, a trophy was presented to the principal which is now located in Madison Middle School’s lobby.
After the success of the inaugural Trumbull Middle School Geography Competition, the Geography Club has announced that they plan to rerun the competition next year with a new theme. This will be in conjunction with supporting preparations to return to the Connecticut High School Geography Challenge at CCSU which the club has participated in during previous years (most recently in May of 2022).
Lives Saved Through THS Red Cross Club
Sarah Bogen ’24
Sutton Caba-Bodie ’24
EE Staff Writers
Congratulations to Trumbull High School’s Red Cross Club on their successful annual Blood Drive!
For those who may not know, the THS Red Cross Club is a community service club that learns about the work of the American Red Cross and aids them with their mission of providing voluntary relief to those in need through their annual blood drive.
Aided by the advisor Mr. Evans, a handful of dedicated officers and members fully organize and plan this yearly event.
Members spend months contributing to this project, properly ensuring a well carried out act of service for the community. This March 31st, they collected enough donations to save 132 lives, which is no small feat. To carry out the event requires resources, such as connections with local nurses and an area to do so such as a gym. Even more importantly, dedication and passion is required, as they serve as the driving force for any club or organization. When speaking to the officers of this year (President Olivia Dopilka, Senior Vice President Katria Santos, Junior Vice President Tracy Kha, Secretary Alana Reyes, Community Organizer Kaia Summ, and Public Relations Director Isabel O’Brien), it is clear this group had both.
While each had a varying reason(s) for having joined the club, all shared one aspect in common: curiosity and a willingness to help. Having been members the previous year, and some even longer, all expressed how important this mission was and is to them and their gratitude to Mr. Evans, as Isabel O’Brien stated: “Mr. Evans’ investment in and passion for the cause is evident and he always inspires us to want to hold the best blood drive we can. Our success each year is largely because of him”.
Additionally, as Alana Reyes shared, the club gave her and others a chance to work with others who share similar interests and passions, discover more about the medical fields and volunteering within them, create opportunities to serve the community, and have fun. With valuable knowledge in their back pockets from the previous year, the officers were ready to aid by dedicating themselves to this project and helping spread their passion to new members of the club.
