The program began with the introduction of the talented salutatorians and the exceptional valedictorian, Corey Dansereau, who was bestowed with enough awards to keep him standing for recognition for quite a while. Shandra Benito, Brenda Seymour and many others were also bestowed with a plethora of honorable awards and scholarships that are most definitely well earned.

The list seemed never-ending as student after student was mentioned and recognized for a variety of awards from the national merit scholar finalists to the students who received scholarships from their respective colleges.

With all of the students having been given their just rewards, the program came to a close and everyone dispersed into the commons to enjoy refreshments and celebrate their collective accomplishments.

The students of 2010 have been exceptional in many ways and this program accurately displayed these accomplishments.

The show received a lot of attention prior to the Thursday performance. Earlier in the day, members of the cast, production crew, and orchestra dressed in tuxedos and dresses to advertise the performance.

According to ensemble member Rachel Guyer-Mafune, “Everybody who’s in musical dressed up so people would ask, ‘Hey, why are you dressed up?’ and of course you’d say, ‘I’m in musical, come to the show tonight.’”

Outside the theater, yellow caution tape lined the entrance and tape formed the shapes of two bodies on the floor.

The dramatic touches prepared the audience for a comical who-done-it mystery set during the production of a musical. When the lead lady is murdered, Lieutenant Frank Cioffi, played by senior Eric Otten, must find the killer.

Based on the audience’s laughs and applause, the show was a hit.

credits in order of appearance:

• Zach Horton & Seth Thompson
• Allie Seroussi
• Wesley Nead
• Tristan Campbell
• Laurence Anderson
• Vincent Nguyen
• Mark Westberg
• Ruby Miller
• Dana Fay
• Adam & Tex Kendall-Nefcy
• Stephan Skalbania
• Zoe Roubanis
• Sam Gelband

RHS Film Festival 2010 Winners- Juniors Chris Acker (left) and Reed McCoy (right). Film: Ghosts?

On Wednesday March 20th, the Roosevelt Theater was bursting with creativity and innovation. Film lover and Roosevelt senior Eric Otten hosted the Roosevelt Film Festival for his senior project. If you didn’t make it to this wonderful event, The Roosevelt News has you covered.

A variety of original films were showcased by many Roughriders, and their artistic expressions wowed the bubbling audience and tough judges. The lineup is as follows:

Cold Start- Directed by Paxton Farrar (senior): A witty short film about one boys car troubles. Starring Paxton.

A Day in the Life of a Puppy- Directed by Lauren Glass (senior): A day in the life of a stuffed animal puppy.

Shades of Doubt- Directed by Seth Falstein (junior): A suspenseful birthday mystery, starring Lewis Haas, Chase Kutsunai, Michael Taang, and Colin Bridges.

Matricide- Directed by Jessa Lowe (senior): A unique short film set at a cemetery. Starring Brando Reece-Gomez and Will Gerhardt.

Ghosts?- Directed by Reed McCoy (Sophomore) and Chris Acker (Junior):  Um……Ghosts?? A comical, documentary-like investigation of the ghosts living in Roosevelt High School. Starring Reed McCoy, Chris Acker, Conrad Schmecel, Ms. Ahlstrom, and Ms. Sutton (Ghostbuster).

Abllabla- Directed by Corey Dansereau (senior): An experimental and artistically wondrous film about a boy’s senior project angst and life. Starring Sean Christofferson.

24 Hours- Directed by Emily Karboski (senior): Fantastic stop motion choreography starring many Roosevelt students.

The Unicycle- Directed by Eric Otten (senior): One boy’s quest to buy a new bike with an inspiring twist of sibling love.

The winner of the Teddy Roosevelt Oscar went to… Ghosts? After winning his first film award at the RHS Film Festival, Chris Acker stated, “It gave me motivation to get back into film. I was once really into it and my determination started to fade. But then I met Reed. Reed and I had talked about doing something for a while and this was the motivation. Reed and I worked well together and had a lot of fun. We’re ready to do more.” Eric Otten deserves many pats on the back for putting together such a great event. Acker adds that, “Eric did a fantastic job organizing. He is an amazing filmmaker himself.”

Brackets such as these are a vital component of March Madness as they bring extra excitement to the tournament.

The greatest sporting event in America is back and Roosevelt has been swept up in all the madness.  The upper commons was jam packed with basketball fans as they watched intense opening round games on Thursday, March 18, during lunch.  In addition to watching the games during lunch and keeping the big bracket updated, Rough Riders are embracing the chaos with several March Madness bracket pools throughout the school including those run by senior Matt Gross and junior Ethan Goldman-Kirst.

To enter a pool, participants fill out a bracket and pay a buy in fee.  Each bracket accumulates points throughout the tournament through the predetermined scoring system, whether it be upset scoring or points for each round.  The winning bracket is the one that racked up the most points and subsequently earns the guesser the pot.

Writing schools down on a piece of paper seems simple, but bracketology has as much a part of March Madness as the teams are.  ”Brackets make March Madness more important,” said junior Pryce Baker, who has entered Goldman-Kirst’s pool this year.  ”Because people play for money, more people watch March Madness.  Even people who don’t know about basketball fill out brackets and watch,” he continued to say.

“Doing pools have become some kind of a tradition for me,” said Goldman-Kirst, who’s entering his second year at the head of a bracket pool.  ”I wouldn’t be as excited [if I didn't fill out a bracket],” he continued to say.  Goldman-Kirst is also working with fellow junior Mourya Mamidala to organize their pool of nine participants.

March Madness owns the television ratings and it reeled in about 10.3 million viewers to CBS on the first day alone.  Don’t believe the hype?  Think about this: President Obama even filled out a bracket.  He picked Kansas to win the championship with ESPN’s Andy Katz by his side.  If Obama’s filling out a bracket, then you know it’s a big deal.

Sophomores finish their first week of the HSPE as they walk out of their testing room.

Tenth graders all over Washington started a new test called the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) this week. “It’s exactly the same as the WASL, but with a new name,” Roosevelt sophomore Sam Carpenter said. The HSPE, which made its debut on Tuesday with the reading section, is one of two new state tests created to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). The other test is the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), which is for grades 3-8. Like the WASL, tenth graders must pass the HSPE in order to graduate from high school.

The test itself is almost identical to the WASL. The procedure is too. For the reading section, students are directed to open their booklets to the first page, where they are given examples of short answer questions, reason and result diagrams, and correctly filled in multiple choice bubbles. The questions on the test are based on short readings in the booklet. For the writing section students are asked to answer two essay prompts: one expository, and the other persuasive.

“The HSPE was easier than the WASL, and I thought the WASL was easy,” sophomore Tessa Vollrath said. Sophomore Mitchell Tokuoka agreed, adding, “I like the WASL better.”

The HSPE was created to be shorter than the WASL, and to take less time to score, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s website. The test has no long answer questions and, except for the writing section, takes only one day for each section, compared to two days for each section of the WASL. In an effort to save money for the state, the test will be moved online over the next few years.

The difference that stood out most to me was not that the test was easier or shorter. Rather, it seemed less formal. Unlike during the WASL, my proctor didn’t seem to care when, at the break, half the class kept working on their tests while at the same time talking to their friends.

Whether it’s called the WASL or the HSPE, Washington’s disdain for standardized testing hasn’t changed.

Seniors Luke Greenway, Lauren Glass, Colin Featherston, Ben Notkin and junior Mitch Young read through "Words Incorporated", a one act play written by Greenway for his senior project.

On Thursday, March 11 the classroom of 242 was transformed into an oasis for aspiring guitarists, soulful singers, and two brothers who simply wanted to convey their love for the Oregon Ducks. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m,  the undercover talents of Roosevelt High School wowed the crowd with songs, poems, and plenty of laughs.

Some highlight of the evening came from the singer/guitarist Stefan Skalbania, who serenaded the floor with his rendition of “Romeo and Juliet” by Dire Straits. Skalbania is widely regarded as an excellent guitarist through his position on the rhythm section of the top vocal jazz choir.  Other members of the  choir, juniors Hannah Jacobson and Katherine Stuber, gave us a taste of their jazz roots in a swing arrangement of “You are my Sunshine”.

Other students gave the crowd something to sing along with as senior Lauren Glass preformed the popular pop tune, “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry, and junior Alex Hume  sang “Love Song” by Taylor Swift.

“Ten Strings”, the popular band consisting of Sophomore Zach Horton and Junior Carlos Alvarez, had the crowd chuckling during their performance of a witty self-written piece about a few controversial social issues. The group has become a beloved staple at Open Mic this year, and never fails to amaze all who lend an ear to their quirky lyrics.

A particularly special moment was when senior Luke Greenway got up on stage to assemble a staged reading of “Words Incorporated”, a one act play that Greenway wrote for his senior project, and hopes to debut in the near future. The plot revolves around a group of gentleman working at a company that is creating the English language, and this premise gave a comical atmosphere to the well written script.

No one wanted the show to end after an evening packed with excellent and inspirational performaces. However, Open Mic is always once a month, and come April the stage will light up once again with the soulful singing, acoustic guitar, and delightful performances that showcase but a sliver of the talent that Roosevelt students contain.

]]> http://www.therooseveltnews.org/?feed=rss2&p=69 5 http://www.therooseveltnews.org/?p=58 http://www.therooseveltnews.org/?p=58#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:50:33 +0000 Camille Esposito http://www.therooseveltnews.org/?p=58 On Wednesday, March 3, the Rider Riderettes presented “For You,” another great showcase of performing arts here at Roosevelt. The Rider Riderettes started the show with their hip-hop competition piece.

Felix Huynh "tutting".

The Break Club and Tap Club pitched in with a couple lively, crowd-pleasing performances. More beautiful dance routines followed, including audience-favorite “Tutting” by Felix Huynh, a cute and zesty pantomime routine, and a moving lyrical piece performed by senior Ruby Miller, junior Audrey Wheeler, sophomore Erika Jacobsen and freshman Madhavi Narayanan. The Rider Riderettes also performed their basketball halftime piece, and juniors Zoe Geiger, Audrey Wheeler, and Sarah Clevenger danced a Pointe piece to Sleeping Beauty’s “Bluebird.”

It wasn’t all dance: senior Sophi Obenza took the stage singing Phil Collins’ “True Colors” and “Thunder and Lightning.” Sophomore Devan Campbell swooned us with Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” and Sarah Evans’ “Born to Fly”.

“The showcase this year was perfect, and we have our coach, Mindy Lu, to thank for that. The audience seemed to really enjoy the diversity of pieces we displayed, and we raised a ton of money for competitions!” said junior Riderette Zoe Geiger.