Bobby Gasdia named this year’s Spellman Oratorical Champion

(From left) Josh Lutts, Jace Williams, Jon Soo Hoo, Olivia Olsen, Bobby Gasdia, Jackie Carlson, Devin Gilmore, and Brittni Lambiase celebrate the completion of the 2014 Spellman Oratorical Competition

Lexie Carchedi, Veritas Staff

On Tuesday, April 15, eight seniors competed in the Spellman Oratorical competition. Bobby Gasdia came in first place, winning the $1200 in scholarship prize money. The other contestants placed in the following order from second place to eighth: Jon Soo Hoo, Jackie Carlson, Josh Lutts, Olivia Olsen, Devin Gilmore, Brittni Lambiase, and Jace Williams.

The theme this year was The Darker Side of Human Nature: Students were assigned to write about how authors through the ages have had a fascination with the darker side of human nature. They had to explain how writers illustrate man’s innate evil in a variety of literary and artistic pieces and discuss what conclusions they draw about human nature through their explorations.

The annual Spellman Oratorical is open to all seniors.  After submitting an essay on the specified topic, the top eight are then chosen to compete in the oratorical portion of the contest which is held during the same week as the Rockland Public Schools’ annual Arts Festival.

 

Where is the senior prom going to be now?

Alex Peppino, Veritas Sports Editor

Lake View Pavilion burning down on April 5th. photo from Associated Press

Just the seniors’ luck, their prom venue burned to the ground.

On Saturday, April 5th, whoever watched the news would have learned that the Lakeview Pavilion in Foxborough was completely destroyed by fire. As a wedding was going on, someone decided to smoke a cigarette and throw it into the mulch outside the hall which created flames throughout the whole building. The Pavilion had been booked for the RHS Senior Prom on May 28. The first thing that most seniors thought was “where is our prom going to be?”

Senior Kayla MacNeil said, “I was nervous that we wouldn’t be able to find another place to have our prom in such a short time.”

Even though there was still a month until prom finding a new venue caused some stress. Luckily, senior Molly Garrity, class president, kept her calm throughout the whole process. She said, “I wasn’t really stressed because our prom is being held on a Wednesday and typically venues don’t hold events mid-week. I started to contact a few places the next day after the fire, and heard back the following week.”

Choices included the Venezia on the Boston waterfront and The Red Lion Inn in Cohasset.

After discussing the choices with the other class officers and class advisor, Sam Hoyo, Garrity decided the new prom venue would be the Red Lion Inn. This is the same venue the seniors  had last year for their junior prom. She said, “I didn’t originally want to do the “same place twice” thing, but it was the most affordable.”

The Red Lion Inn in Cohasset is the new venue for this year’s senior prom. photo by Molly Garrity

She also said, “I would’ve liked to go to the Lakeview Pavillion more just for the change of scenery, but it happens so we’re just going to make the best of it.”

Most of the seniors are not disappointed at all. “The Red Lion Inn venue is beautiful, so it doesn’t bother me that it’s at the same place as last year,” senior Kelsey Joyce said.

To have found another place so quickly is a relief to all involved.  Most seniors agree that even if the prom ended up being in the school gym, the Class of 2014 is going to make the best of one of the last school events they’ll have in high school.

Thankfully everything is now back to normal and all the usual prom preparations are underway for May 28.

President Elect Katie DeLorey Welcomed by Current SGC Officers

Haley Macray, Veritas Feature Editor

The Rockland High School Student Government Council (SGC)  is responsible for the majority of community service projects, spirit events, and other leadership focused programs that take place at RHS. The president of the council has many jobs and obligations that they must fulfill including running meetings, creating activities, and maintaining the council overall.

On Wednesday, April 2 at a general meeting, current junior, Katie DeLorey, was elected next year’s SGC President.

DeLorey was president of both her freshman and sophomore class and this year she chaired Rockland’s South Eastern Massachusetts Association of Student Councils (SEMASC) committee, planning the spring conference in detail with other board members.

At the beginning of the meeting, prior to the elections, DeLorey gave a speech in which she talked about her experience with SGC and how passionate she is about it.

Toward the end of the meeting, Jackie Carlson, the 2013-2014 council president, announced that DeLorey had won the election and would be taking her place for the next year.

After finding out that she would be president next year DeLorey “was thinking about doing a backflip because [she] was so excited.”

DeLorey has many things that she is looking forward to in the upcoming year.

“Some of the goals I have for next year are to live up to the reputation our council has throughout the nation because we are a gold council,” says DeLorey. “I’d like to get more members involved, have better attendance at the meetings, and to have better communication between everyone.”

She is also excited to watch underclassmen take on larger leadership positions and grow into the leaders that she knows they are throughout the new school year.

Members of this year’s SGC Executive Board only have positive remarks about DeLorey being elected president.

“Over the past couple of years I’ve seen [DeLorey] grow into a true leader. She’s always so vocal at every meeting and always speaks her mind,” says current SGC Treasurer Jon SooHoo. “The SGC President needs to truly embody school spirit and Katie does just that. Her passion for Student Government Council is unparalleled. Her social skills and ability to adapt and work with others make her invaluable. I know she will do great things and I wish her the best of luck.”

Council Secretary, Devin Gilmore and Council Publicity Coordinator, Chris Catania agree that DeLorey will be a successful president next year.

“Katie is the kind of person everyone looks up to, whether in SGC or not,” says Gilmore, “She has always been a valued member of SGC and her commitment never ends.”

“I strongly believe Katie was the right choice for president elect. She was born to lead, and she’ll take good care of what we’ve left behind,” adds Catania.

Although DeLorey is looking forward to her new position on the council’s “Big Five” she will miss this year’s graduating council members.

“I feel like I’ve grown up with that grade,” she says. “I will miss their help and guidance in student government and all they have done for this council.”

DeLorey will be taking her full position as council president following the Student Government banquet on May 7, 2014.

 

DeLorey puts on a smiling face after the Spring SEMASC Conference is over

President Elect and SEMASC Committee Chair Katie DeLorey welcoming the South Eastern Massachusetts Association of Student Councils to Rockland High for their spring conference

 

Images Literary and Art Magazine on sale at Arts Festival

Images 2014 cover by Sydney Bissonnette

 

Tonight, April 16, at the annual Rockland Public School’s Arts Festival held in the high school gym, Rockland High School’s art and literary magazine, Images, will be on sale. The magazine will be five dollars and showcases the writing and art of RHS students. If you miss it tonight you can pick one up from Chris Neal, Images adviser.

RHS SGC leads region at Spring SEMASC Conference

Meghan Foster, Veritas Staff

Rockland High school had the privilege of hosting their first ever SEMASC (Southeastern Massachusetts Association of Student Councils) Spring Conference on April 11. Over 600 students from more than thirty different schools attended this conference.

Sophomore Ryan Sugrue says, “I think this was my favorite SEMASC ever because we hosted it. It was a great opportunity for our council to really show our leadership qualities.”

While students were filing into the auditorium a short dance was performed by Rockland’s executive board and select members who dressed up as characters from popular games. These costumes included squirrels and characters from Mario.

The conference started with opening remarks from RHS Principal Alan Cron, Superintendent of Schools John Retchless, SGC President Jackie Carlson, and SEMASC Chair Katie Delorey.

Cron says, “The way you guys all handled the hundreds of small details was great. You were up and happy and engaged all day… Everyone in the building was so impressed at the fact that there were 600 extra kids in the building and it really was so seamless.”

Following opening remarks, students attended workshops where they learned leadership skills and were able to interact with students from different towns.

Students then went back into the auditorium to listen to election speeches for Delegates, Vice President, Publicity Coordinator and Secretary for the regional SEMASC board. Sophomore Ashley Pezzella, won the spot of one of three delegates for the region.

Pezzella says, “It took a lot of preparation but it was definitely worth it because I have wanted this for so long. It was so amazing to hear my name be called and finally be able to call myself a SEMASC delegate.”

While some students attended a picnic lunch in the gym, others attended a pep rally in which towns were able to show off their best pep rally activities. Rockland High school students taught SEMASC our famous rollercoaster pep rally event.

The conference closed with results of the elections, closing remarks from the old SEMASC Executive Board, and awards.

Overall, students from attending towns were able to bring back new ideas from this conference.

Junior class president Nicole Cook says, “I think that it went really well and everything ran very smoothly. I think everyone had a lot of fun.”

 

Oratorical contestants will look at The Darker Side of Human Nature

 The annual RHS Spellman Oratorical contest will be held on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the RHS Lecture Hall.  All are welcome to attend.  The contest is sponsored by the RHS English Department and coordinated by Ms. Amanda McDonough and Ms. Carol Cahill.

This year’s topic:

The Darker Side of Human Nature: Authors through the ages have had a fascination with the darker side of human nature. Explain how writers illustrate man’s innate evil in a variety of literary and artistic pieces and discuss what conclusions they draw about human nature through their explorations.

The Spellman Oratorical is open to all seniors.  After submitting an essay on the specified topic, contestants are then chosen to compete in the oratorical portion of the contest which is held during the same week as the Rockland Public Schools’ annual Arts Festival.

This year eight contestants will compete for prize money that is provided from a trust established by the late Francis Cardinal Spellman of Whitman in memory of his mother, Ellen Conway Spellman. The following qualities are used as a basis for judging: delivery, content, diction, and poise.

Suggested Awards this year will be—First – $1200, Second – $800, Third – $600, Fourth – $400, Fifth- $200, 6th, 7th, 8th – $100 each, for a total of $3500. Prize money may adjusted at the judges’ discretion.

The contestants this year are:  Jackie Carlson, Bobby Gasdia, Devin Gilmore, Brittni Lambiase, Josh Lutts, Olivia Olsen, Jon Soo Hoo, Jace Williams.

Last year Amy Warner was the winner in a very competitive field of eight contestants.  She was awarded $1100 as the first place winner out of a total of $2750 provided by the Spellman trust.  Click here to see the details of last year’s contest.

This year’s contestants are sure to provide articulate and original speeches on this provocative topic.

 

 

Baseball, softball get first wins

Junior Brian Cohen got his first varsity win against Pembroke. photo courtesy of Rockland High Sports

The RHS baseball and softball teams both beat Hull yesterday.  For softball it was their first win.  The baseball team has won two so far.

For softball their record is now 1 win and 1 loss.  In their first game against Monomoy, they lost 9-7 due to some errors.  A bright spot in that game though was Kylie Langhoff’s two run homer.  Against Hull the Lady Dogs dominated and won 15 to 3.  Hitting stars included Brianna Starkey who had two hits and 3 runs batted in.  Maddie Olsen also had two hits and 3 runs batted in.  Allie Sammon picked up the win, pitching all six innings.

The girls play Hanover today (Friday, April 4).

The baseball team as previously stated is 2-0.  They beat Pembroke by a score of 4 to 3.  Junior Brian Cohen got his first varsity win as he and Matt Clougherty combined to pitch six innings.  Against Hull the score was 8 to 5 in favor of the Dogs. Junior Brandon Kirby won his first varsity game as he pitched four innings of relief.