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CATS Madness Tournament

By: Helena Fauvel (Reporter)

On Friday, April 6th, student government and Mr. Cerbarano organized one of the most well-attended and successful events of the whole school year. The name of the event was CATS Madness. Students along with teachers were able to show off their skills as basketball players or just simply have fun watching the teams battle in the gym.

Along with the basketball tournament our beloved student government organized tents with food and drinks to raise money through charitable donations for CATS Hope. This event really displayed the kindness and cohesiveness of our community.

Another enjoyable aspect of this tournament was the interaction between teachers and students.  Co-Head Basketball Coach O’Brien commented, “It was good to play against some of the Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball students I coached. It is good to see some of the people who did not play on the school team out there as well. Hopefully it will encourage them to come out for the team next year.”  The final results of the tournament saw students Taj Gomes, Noah Ellegood, and Vinh Nguyen (tournament MVP) win the boy’s bracket. The girl’s bracket was won by Katherine Pan, Susan Zhang, Veronica Zghoniaiko, and Valeriia Bazovkina in a hard fought competition.

Art teacher, Mr. Punches, believes our school should continue to organize more school events like CATS Madness to provide fun interactions between students and teachers. “We should appreciate the hard work of everyone that put their time and work and this event – it turned out great”, he said. Community events like CATS Madness, are an important part the unique and exceptional educational experience we have at CATS Boston. We can’t wait till the next one!

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I Heart Piano Concert Inspires

By: Helena Fauvel

On February 13th, the Fine Arts Department hosted their annual “I Heart Piano” Concert   as a tribute to Valentine’s Day and peace around the world. At the event students were allowed to secretly dedicate songs to their friends, admirers, and valentines! The class of advanced pianists led by Ms. Segal presented songs inspired by the themes of romance, love, and passion. The beautiful event, which took place in Salon B, was attended by over seventy students, faculty, and staff members.

Lilian Wang, a musician performing in the concert, is an example of how dedication and persistence with guidance from Ms. Segal can lead to the production of beautiful music. Although she began to play the piano at six years of age, she had to stop playing for eight years because of other time commitments. Admission to CATS Boston led to a renewed passion and she began to play again with the help of the lovely Ms. Segal.

During the concert, Lilian played a poetic French song called “Comptine D’un Autre Été”. “The song makes me happy and I wanted to make other people feel this way too by playing it.  I learned the song during the winter break and I thought it was a good fit for the Valentine piano concert,” explained Lillian.

Throughout the remainder of the concert, other talented students played songs written by famous composers, such as Ben Anderson, Davichi, Ning er cen, and Yiruma.  Overall the concert was a great success and displayed the tremendous piano talent CATS has to offer.  Congratulations to everyone who played at the event and a special thanks to Ms. Segal for making it all possible. We look forward to next year!

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Forum on Race, Ethnicity, and Power of Friendship

By: Tova Turner and Sandrea Celestin

On February 9, 2018, several students organized a forum on race and ethnicity. Its purpose was to discuss the historical and current issues surrounding racial and ethnic social dynamics in the United States.

After the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s led by many African-American leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X, our nation saw significant changes that improved the lives of Black citizens.  However, today, minority groups in the United States still face great racial and ethnic discrimination.

In our forum we discussed how the history of slavery and segregation affected the lives of Black Americans. Some of the topics we discussed were how Black Americans were harassed in the process of desegregation in the 1960’s, the evolution of use of the N-word, racial profiling, police brutality,  the Black Lives Matter Movement, the rise of White Supremacists and Nationalist groups. The forum was important because minorities still face injustice and discrimination today, and this is not talked about enough.

The intention of the forum was to start a conversation about how these issues affect our country, as well other countries where similar racist and xenophobic behavior takes place. Our goal was to inform our community about how social prejudice still exists today. We took on this responsibility with optimism, and we hope that honest communication and the power of friendship can help lead the way to a better society.

On behalf of the students who participated in the forum (Tova, Sandrea, Kate, Norah, Jet, Lexi and Jalyn) thank you to the students, faculty and staff for joining us in this important discussion.

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Futsal Tournament Arrives at CATS

By: Nina Sunago

A sport that used to be completely unknown by many members of our community is not anymore. This month, the term “FUTSAL” gained a whole lot of meaning. The first CATS Futsal Tournament, filled our school’s gym with people who desired to see what it was all about and which teams would become the big winners.

Competing in the Gym were eight teams in the men’s brackets, and four teams in the women’s brackets. Many had creative names like THE GUCCIER GANG, FAB5, and STAGE 5.  Among the twelve teams, three of them were entirely made up of faculty and staff, who joyfully took up the challenge to compete against student teams.

After a lot of fun, and sweat, CLUB DE TOBY and BIRITEIRAS won the prizes; fifty dollar gift cards for the Cheesecake Factory. The MVP’s of the tournament, Thiago Peres and Paola Guzman, were chosen by our voluntary referees. So, FUTSAL, another very successful sports event was added to our community. And there are more events to come. Students can expect the CATS Madness Basketball Tournament in the beginning of April, and hopefully a Football Flag Tournament later in the semester.

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CATS Cafe Showcases Student Musical Talent

By: Helena Fauvel

The CATS Cafe is an event that happens periodically in our community.  It is an upbeat opportunity for students play and sing music they like – songs can be in English, Portuguese, Russian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese, or any language.  The enjoyment of music any language is of course universal.

When CATS Cafe is held, it takes place during lunch and advisory time on Tuesday and Friday. If you want to participate, you will always be welcome. But, if you only want to watch, that’s ok – every performer needs an audience!

Come to the Cafe, it is a great opportunity to relax and have fun with your friends between class periods. It’s also a great opportunity to show your musical talent.

CATS Cafe will return after break to the Student Lounge, so watch for announcements about the next date so you can come and enjoy the atmosphere.

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Poetry Out Loud A Success

By: Sasha Chernysehva

What is poetry and why do we need it? It is individual for everyone; it can be a beautiful composition of words, a meaningful narrative, or a simple leisure activity.  For me, poetry is a cure; and sometimes, when life  gets hard, I prescribe myself an hour of simply reading poetry out loud. That in my opinion, is a good reason for the CATS English department to “prescribe” for us all a Poetry Out Loud week.

During the Poetry Out Loud week at CATS every student was required  to learn a poem from the Poetry Out Loud website by heart and recite it in their English class. The winner of the internal class competitions, went to the school competition where they recited two poems. The winner of the school competition, earned the chance to participate in the state contest.

All of the students were explicitly told to choose a poem that speaks to them in some way. So even though they put an immense amount of effort into their performances, students actually enjoyed doing it. There are a couple veterans of Poetry Out Loud who merit special recognition because they successfully participated in the school contest for two or three years in a row.  Livia Qeli, was the winner of this year, with her poem “Dear Reader” by Rita Mae Reese, and Anna Merzlyakova, who earned second place last year and took the third place this year. They managed to capture the attention of the audience and show them how amazing it is to listen to poetry. As Mr. Levine would probably say: “They shared a lot of awesomeness.”

The Poetry Out Loud week was outstanding this year, and the CATS community is very proud of how much talent and potential it revealed in our students. A big thank you to all who participated, and special congratulations and good luck to Livia Qeli who will represent CATS community at the state level!

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Microwave Fried Rice Dorm Recipe

By: Jessica Ngo

Time: 30min | Serves: 1 person | Tbsp = spoon

Ingredients

3 Tbsp of rice (raw)

4 Tbsp of water

⅛ Tbsp of oil

Seasoning

¼ Tbsp of chosen seasoning

(soy sauce, salt, tomato sauce)

Optional

3 Tbsp of peas

3 bacon slices, chopped

Materials

2 Microwave Safe Bowls

Spoon/ Fork

Directions

Put all ingredients into a microwave safe container.

Stir and Cover.

Microwave 20 minutes.

Add in Bacon

Leave for about 5 minutes.

Stir well and Enjoy!

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Dorm Life at CATS Boston

By: Sasha Chernysehva

Dorm life is a unique experience that only boarding students can have. There is a prevalent opinion that dorm life is humdrum and doesn’t carry much weight in the context of one’s boarding experience. However, this is an indisputable underestimation, it may well be one’s favorite part. Dorm life is certainly important and deserves notice. Here’s the overview of my experience with CATS dorm life.

My social life in CATS began in the dorm. When I came here last year, I was very anxious about merging in to a completely new community. However, soon I realized that the dorm environment was more than welcoming, and shortly I felt really comfortable with meeting new people and making new friends. There were times when we all gathered together in the lounge, to watch movies on Netflix, listen to music, cook food, or just talk. These simple things create the warm and cozy environment that helped me join the CATS community in my first year.

Both of my dorm parents, during the first two years, were very involved in my life. In my home country, it would be my parents who would provide assistance if I had concerns about teachers, grades, or my personal life.   Here at CATS, my dorm parents are very involved, caring and work hard every day to create a welcoming community on the floor. For example, my dorm parent makes hot pots for everybody on the floor.  Other dorm parents have done things like organize a karaoke night or make Sunday breakfast for the floor.  They are always looking for new and creative things to do.

Holidays in dorms are always celebrated. On Halloween and Thanksgiving, all of the dorms were adorned with festive decorations; and although, we were not here for Christmas, an effort was made to illuminate our dorms, celebrate with food and Secret Santa presents were given on the night before we left. The Gardner House recently had a Valentine’s Party on February 14; they distributed valentines and little presents, had food and music, and celebrated the holiday with hugs. Many of the students dressed in costume or wore red for the occasion.

Dorm life at CATS is a big part of the school experience, if classes are not the best part of your day, dorm life certainly may be.

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Cultural Fair Highlights: A Call for Global Unity

By: Alice Nguyen

The Culture Fair could be just like any other school event which occurs during assembly time, but it is not. It is like an artwork: there are those who work on it for days, and those who enjoy it in a fleetingly quick timeframe. Even though it only lasted two hours, it was worth it!

Tremendous effort was put into the preparation for the Culture Fair, thanks to Ms. Carroll, her organizing team, countless students, and staff members. The result was a dazzling success. Musical acts such as the iconic Russian song “Katyusha” and the Brazilian “Dona Maria” group dance generated plenty of laughter and excitement—a perfect opening for more fun to come. A guest dance group performed some African dances along with the many students who joined them on stage. The fashion show featured elaborate costumes from around the world, including Korean hanbok, Vietnamese ao dai, a Japanese kimono, and many others. The highlight of the fair, as always, was the amazing food: Vietnamese cha gio, Russian boortsog, Philippine lumpia, Moroccan tea, Canadian pancakes, Mexican tacos, Albanian baklava, Brazilian coxinha, Taiwanese bubble tea, Chinese noodles, Korean pancakes, Japanese candies, Bulgarian snacks, American cookies, and Italian pasta.

As one of the organizers of the fair, my hope is that it was more than just an event to you, as it was for me. I can still recall quite vividly standing amidst a sea of indistinct chatter of languages, in a room that felt like a mini cut out version of the world. Visiting a booth was like traveling to a different country where I was immediately welcomed. Indeed, the fair’s significance surpassed the parameters of our school community alone. Here are the young generations of Morocco, Vietnam, Korea, Italy, Albania, Taiwan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbek, Japan, China, Brazil, Philippines, Bulgaria, Canada, America—all united, unafraid to open our doors and welcome others. There are the differences we have, the history we do not share, the languages we cannot comprehend, and they all are beautiful together. The fair, as I experienced it, was a call for global unity, open barriers, and universal acceptance of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, and cultures.

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