The Cougar Paw Page 6


Fishing for a bet- ter understanding


by Lindsey Tague Continued from page 1


The familiar sights of the classroom were replaced with the images of waves crashing on the shore for stu- dents of Ms. Kelly Etchev- erry’s ninth grade biology class.


On


October 13 and October 14, students of the ninth grade class went to the grassbeds on Sanibel Island and explored the marine life. Upon their return, they worked in the touch tank to create mini- ecosytems for a better under- standing of trophic levels. “The purpose of the the field trip was to reinforce the concepts being studied in the ecology unit,” said Etchev- erry.


As they waded in the water, students captured fish


and other sea creatures in hopes of creating a sustain- able environment. “We realized that if we have


“We realized that if


we have five fish and one shrimp, we have a problem,” says ninth grader, Irina Ahmad.


Irina Ahmad, 9


five fish and one shrimp, we have a prob- lem,” says ninth grader, Irina Ahmad. After


spending time in the cold water, students closed their buckets, put them on the


bus, and went back to school to put their animals in the fish tank. Once the sea crea- tures were successfully placed in the tank, students recorded observations of the interactions throughout the following two weeks. “The biology field trip


was an exciting experience, and it was educational,” says Sanim Choudhury.


"Seussical" delights Upper and Middle School


students joined forces to rehearse for the whimsical "Seussical the Musi- cal", presented last weekend. Cast members rehearsed for


hours after school for the twomonths leading up to the production. Director JamieHutteman workedwith the cast to recreate the famous stories, nar- rated by the Cat in the Hat. The musical is based on


"Horton Hears a Who!," "The Cat in the Hat," and "Horton Sits on the Egg."


“My favorite book as a child


was 'Horton Sits on the Egg', so I’ve enjoyed bringing the characters from that story to life on stage,” said Hut- teman.


Main characters included


Kyle Tague as Cat in the Hat, Chan- dler Lane as Horton the Elephant,


Audrey Chisum as JoJo, Kate Lewis as Gertrude McFuzz, and Talia Moorey as the Sour Kangaroo. Amy Rybicki choreographed the musical, and Dana Williams, as al- ways, brought the music. Other castmembers/crew in-


cluded Samantha Dalesio, Abbie Lewis, Anastasia Snetkova, Derek Wu, Chris Maddox, Joseph Young- Perez, Ryan Foor, Christine Orlando, Jacob Roberge, Zan Deboest, Chelsea Ankenbrandt, Hannah Fay, Taylor Floethe, Haley Leatherman, Gabriela Pickett, Niki Singh, Valentina Velasquez, Jesse Wood- hull,Aaron Frank, Lucas Czarnecki, Neil Singh, Noelle Spencer, Dave Kelskey, Nick Grey, Lee Shen Molzan, Jessica Torricelli, Savannah Bonnette, andAdvaitaa Ravipati.


Who's the boss?


There were other surprises,


too. Even though they were disqual- ified in the skit because they ex- ceeded the time limit, the ninth grade class was happy with their perform- ance. They also gained respect from their older peers through the dodge- ball and volleyball games as well as their bold first skit. "Itwas unexpected how well


we did," said freshman Abbie Lewis. "We weren't expecting us to do so well and I'm really proud of our grade."


The sophomores took sec- Photo by Sheena Neese


Danny Rafalski examines his group's ecosystem on October 14 for the ninth grade biology class.


ond place in many of the events such as "Rob the Casino", "Royal Flush Relay", skit production, and the t- shirt competition, which led to an overall second place finish. "Our hard work over the


summer really paid off," said sopho- more Vice- President Lila Gutstein. Gustein and the other mem-


bers of the sophomore student coun- cil believed that these class meetings significantly improved their class's performance this year. The senior class also placed


fairly well in the various homecom- ing events. They received first in "Rob the Casino," "Royal Flush Relay," and the "Home Run Derby." Yet, they could not seal their third Homecoming victory, despite a unique t-shirt and skit theme. "Despite our skit disqualifi-


cation, homecoming week really brought our class together, and I am satisfied with our other victories," said senior Kyle Tague.


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