#b#Silver Awards#/b#
Aditi Pal and Shivangi Sood, rising freshmen at High School South and members of Girl Scout Troop 70050, completed their Silver Award project. They both joined Girl Scouts in fifth grade because the duo had realized that the organization was the perfect way to spend time together while helping their community.
The pair based their project on the realization that the younger children of this generation had a severe lack of health education. They started Safety and Wellness Awareness Camp at YWCA, a youth enrichment program. They created lesson plans for the two-week camp, with Pal in charge of teaching nutrition and fitness and Sood in charge of teaching kids how to stay safe in different situations. “This project was very exciting for me because I really enjoy working with children,” Pal said.
They were supported by their troop leader, Trupti Gandhi; their mentor at YWCA, Tara O’Shea; and their parents, Neetu Pal and Deepti Sood. “Even though there was a lot of hard work put into this project, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again,” says Sood.
Anika Shenoy is raising awareness about Type 2 diabetes as part of her Girl Scout Silver Award project. She has been conducting workshops throughout the townships of West Windsor and Plainsboro to teach the young about healthy eating and exercise. “One of the causes of diabetes is that people don’t eat nutritional foods and a large portion of their diet consists of high carbohydrate foods,” she says. “Another cause is the decrease of physical activity in children due to spending more time on electronic gadgets.”
Shenoy is a rising eighth grade student at Thomas Grover Middle School. She moved from Canada three years ago and has been a Girl Scout for two years. A Plainsboro resident, she is in Troop 71110 with leader Debi Vivona. Her mentor is Dr. Sucheta Trasi.
“Ideally, when a person consumes food, their body breaks it down into various nutrients,” says Shenoy. “Insulin is released from the pancreas. Its job is to help glucose enter the body’s cells for future use. For someone with Type 2, cells become less sensitive to insulin and sufficient insulin cannot be produced. This causes blood sugar (glucose in your blood) to rise.”
Shenoy volunteers in a religious organization to teach children ages 3 to 6 traditional dances to keep them fit while learning about their culture in a fun way. She plays volleyball and has been learning traditional Indian dancing for six years and is learning Hindi through the HindiUSA program. She is also enrolled in STARTALK’s Hindi immersion program through University of Maryland’s national foreign language center.
“This project is relevant to me, as well as my family,” says Shenoy. “Having a family history of diabetes, I know the difficulties people with this disease face. Also, I have noticed the growing Southeast-Asian population and wanted to make people aware of this disease which can strike at an early age if one does not lead a healthy lifestyle.”
Her workshops include information about eating healthy, exercising, and drinking enough water. She suggests eating vegetables of different colors, following MyPlate Guidelines, and eating more home-cooked foods. Shenoy also recommends exercising for an hour a day, getting plenty of rest, and drinking enough water to stay hydrated.
Her project teaches kids how to stay healthy through games, crafts, prizes, and snacks. E-mail her at girlscoutsilverawardproject@gmail.com to schedule a one-hour workshop for children.
Tennis Scholarship
Nyambe Tuchscherer of Plainsboro, a June graduate of High School North, will receive a $1,000 College Textbook Scholarship from the United State Tennis Association. Tuchscherer, who organized an event to support healthcare for girls in Africa, raised funds for Wellbody Alliance, a small clinic in Easter Sierra Leone. She will attend the University of Notre Dame this fall.
USTA Foundation granted 53 high school students nationwide a variety of college scholarships this spring, totaling $373,000. The honorees were selected from applicants throughout the country on the basis of their commitment to academic success, to their local community, and to their participation in tennis. An objective of the USTA Foundation is to encourage America’s youth to pursue their goals and highest dreams by succeeding in school and becoming responsible citizens.
“The USTA Foundation is once again excited to award these hard-working, well-deserving seniors,” said Dan Faber, USTA Foundation executive director. “We are proud to contribute to their academic achievements, and look forward to their continued success.”
#b#Summer Scholar#/b#
Marco Kaisth, a rising senior at High School South, completed an intense summer enrichment program under the auspices of the New Jersey Scholars Program. The free five-week summer program, on the Lawrenceville School campus in Lawrenceville, created a rigorous inter-disciplinary experience for 39 students from New Jersey. “Climate Change and the Human Experience” examined the subject through the lenses of history and politics, literature, science, sociology, and anthropology.
The students learned to think in an inter-disciplinary way through reading assignments, lectures, and small group seminars. They also performed in an arts festival featuring music, drama, dance, and art. Kaisth’s research paper, “A Policy of Exploitative Inaction: Modern Corporate Colonialism and Climate Change,” was one of two selected to be presented at graduation.
On Stage in NYC
Ken Jaworowski of West Windsor is opening his newest play, “Believers,” at the WorkShop Theater in Manhattan from September 23 to October 18. “It’s the culmination of an exciting year for me,” he says. He recently returned from Edinburgh, Scotland, where his play “Acts of Redemption” is running at the Fringe Festival.
His previous play, “Interchange,” was just published by Broadway Play Publishing and is available at www.amazon.com for $14.95. The play “draws together the lives of five seemingly disparate characters: A hard-driving businessman struggling to raise his grandson. A paroled convict hoping to find redemption. A shy college professor trying to win the approval of his students. A middle-aged office manager pressured to hide her secrets. And a haunted young man hungry for revenge. As their stories unfold in plots both tragic and comic, these desperate souls find themselves intertwined in each other’s battles and dreams.” (The News, October 8, 2010)
Jaworowski, a staff editor for the New York Times, is a regular contributor to the culture section of the paper. Some days he writes plays and some days he reviews plays. He has been writing plays for close to 15 years, and has seen his plays performed in New York, Scotland, and London.
“I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia and like to focus on characters who have to face difficult though recognizable choices including work vs. family, money vs. integrity, and loyalty vs. breaking away,” he says. “I think there can be real magic and true tragedy in even the smallest moments of our lives.”
Jaworowski’s journalism career began when he was a reporter for Bloomberg News. “As a journalist I loved to tell stories, and I saw playwriting as an extension of that — a way to explore who we are and why we do the things we do,” he says.
He has lived in West Windsor for eight years with his wife, Michele, an accountant; and their two children, ages 8 and 12, who attend WW-P schools. “My wife has the math aptitude, I have the literature gene, and my daughter caught the acting bug,” he says. “She just finished a summer program at the Kelsey Theater that culminated in her acting and singing for two nights.”
“With some luck I hope to have another play over in England soon, but for now ‘Believers’ is taking all of my time,” says Jaworowski. “We just cast the four actors and got some terrific talent.”
Main Stage Theater, 312 West 36th Street, fourth floor, New York City. $18. 212-866-811-4111.
#b#Lemonade for Research#/b#
Brothers Arjun, 7, and Rohan Khanna, 4, and their friend Pranay Mahesh Vittal, 11, held their second annual lemonade stand in West Windsor on August 2. Proceeds benefited Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, an American pediatric cancer charity to raise money for cancer research and increase awareness among people.
“The kids worked very hard to make the event a success,” says Sumit Khanna, the father of the brothers. “In addition to hand-made signs that they posted outside and around our development, they also dropped flyers in each of the 110 homes in our development.” The parents helped to spread the word through social media, and contacted West Windsor Township officials including the mayor, council members, the police chief, and the department.
“All the efforts that the kids put in, paid off,” says Khanna. “The kids had a great turn out and ended up beating their own goal. In 2014, the kids had set a goal of raising $100 and ended up raising $414. This year, they set a goal of $400 and ended up raising $611.” All proceeds were sent to the foundation.
“The kids are very proud of their accomplishment and they had a great time during the fundraiser,” says Khanna. “They were very excited to see Lieutenant Robert Garofalo and Sergeant Mark Lee from the West Windsor Police Department stop by. The police car with the flashing lights was one of the highlights of the event and helped draw in more people.”
#b#On the Screen — Soon#/b#
Bryan Singer, a 1984 graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, has been busy making movies. He is currently directing “X-Men: Apocalypse,” set to open in May.
In collaboration with Same Name Productions, Singer is co-developing a documentary exploring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the vantage point of a dynamic Arab-Israeli activist. The film, now known as “In the Middle of the Middle East,” follows a young man as he navigates personal and political minefields, determined to advance a workable solution for coexistence in the Middle East, while searching for true peace within himself. Singer may make his documentary directorial debut.
Christopher McQuarrie, also a graduate of WW-P High School, was on his way to the police academy when former schoolmate Singer offered him the opportunity to write their debut feature film, “Public Access.” It was the winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival’s grand jury prize. McQuarrie went on to write and direct “The Way of the Gun,” starring Benicio del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, and James Caan. He also wrote and produced “Valkyrie,” starring Tom Cruise and directed by Singer.
Though Singer won Sundance with his first film, his 1995 film, “The Usual Suspects,” made him famous. The film earned two Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Kevin Spacey and Best Original Screenplay for McQuarrie, a 1986 graduate of WW-P High School. Singer’s third feature film, “Apt Pupil,” featured bits and pieces of WW-P High School, including the green and gold colors, “Welcome Pirates” signs, the pirate as a mascot, and used at least one teacher’s name in hallways conversations — Susan Fiscarelli, who taught history at WW-P. Singer earned the Saturn Award for Best Director from the academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror.
Singer, who also directed previous “X-Men” films, “Superman Returns,” “Jack and the Giant Slayer,” and others, was executive producer on the Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning Fox series “House” set at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital.
Both Singer and McQuarrie have been honored by the WW-P District as Wall of Honor inductees.
#b#From Principal to Project Manager#/b#
Michael Zapicchi, the recently retired principal at High School North, was recently appointed project manager by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). In this role, Zapicchi will oversee a new compliance initiative that will further enhance communication between NJSIAA staff and the association’s member schools.
Zapicchi, a resident of Manasquan, is a graduate of College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in biology education, and earned a master’s degree in science education. “All of us at the NJSIAA have known and worked with Mike for years, in his capacity as a volunteer leader,” says Steven J. Timko, NJSIAA executive director. “We all realize how talented and committed he is, so when it became possible for him to join us as project manager, we knew it was an excellent opportunity for the association and its membership.”
Zapicchi, who has been an active member of NJSIAA for many years, was president of the executive committee during 2007-2008 and is the current co-chair of the Public/Non-Public Committee. He was also an NJSIAA Award of Honor recipient in 2009.
“Having played an active role in the NJSIAA for many years, I’m honored to now assume new responsibilities on the NJSIAA team,” Zapicchi says. “In particular, I’m excited about utilizing my professional experience as a school administrator and coach to address the varied needs of high schools across New Jersey.”
#b#In College#/b#
Carnegie Mellon University: Maya Kaisth, a 2013 graduate of High School South and a sophomore at the school, is on the dean’s list.
Gettysburg College: Stephanie Kuech, a psychology major from Plainsboro, is on the dean’s commendation list.
