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The Brunswick Chronicle New Year’s 2012
Around Wick, General Nostalgia
Middle and Lower School Teacher Updates By Teddy Cassoli ‘15 Staff Writer
The New Year is a g reat time not only to look ahead, but also ref lect on years past. Ever y Br unswick student who has g one through Br unswick’s Middle and Lower Schools has a favorite teacher. With eighth g rade teacher Mr. Fischetti, seventh g rade teachers Mr. Polikoff and Mr. Urbon, and third g rade teacher Mr. Coughlin (to name a few), it seems impossible to g o wrong. I checked in with these teachers about what their classrooms are like, their plans for break, and other questions relating to their respective classes. Students of Br unswick School, prepare for a trip back in time to visit some of the all-star teachers of the Middle and Lower Schools. The eighth g rade was a year to enjoy being the oldest in the Middle School before being knocked back down to the bottom of the totem pole as a freshman. American histor y with Mr. Fischetti is a highlight of the year. One student called it “HBS,” which stands for “histor y bro sesh,” which is an accurate summation. Eighth g rade American histor y is the perfect combination of lear ning and just hanging with Mr. Fischetti. When I asked Mr. Fischetti about any changes to his room, he was par ticularly excited about a new poster signed by the REAL Rudy Ruettiger from Notre Dame. Mr. Fischetti is planning to stay home for the holidays with his family, doing some yog a, and working on his jump shot because, as he explains, there are only three constants in life: death, taxes, and Fischetti’s J. Mr. Lar r y Urbon is the seventh g rade science teacher and one of the most beloved teachers at Br unswick. He is famous for his g ypsy guitar playing and for his outrageous number of cats (a number never for mally revealed to the Br unswick Community). His science room brings memories of a fridge in the cor ner
that does not ser ve a purpose and other than holding strange trinkets like big shells and animal bones. One of the highlights of the seventh g rade year is making kimchee in oneliter bottles. The smell of cabbage and peppers fill the room and lingers for days in the nearby hallways. Many remember the hor rid smell of the kimchee that “Urb” has that dates back to 1997. To this day, it causes many an unsuspecting seventh-g rader to r un, coughing, to the other side of the room. For his holiday season, Mr. Urbon plans on staying home and playing with his cats, playing guitar, and watching too much “Pawn Stars.” All in all, an awesome break. Amid Br unswick’s rigorous academic and athletic demands, org anization is cr ucial, and no teacher stresses this basic skill more than Mr.
cor rectly. When I asked Mr. Polikoff how the seventh g raders were doing with the packets this year, he said, “They love ‘em so much… Brings tears to my eyes.” For some it does bring tears to the eyes (to this day). I spent a lot of my time in Mr. Polikoff ’s classroom, because it was also my advisor y, and the only thing that has changed is that now, in his words, it “smells like bananas for some reason.” Many remember the famous “policies” in Mr. Polikoff ’s class. The student who sug gested the 100th policy would get a “plus.” Apparently, this year’s class is on number “BR71,” whatever that means. To sum it all up, Poli is still Poli. Now, the New Year’s time machine takes us all the way back to the third g rade to Mr. Brian Coughlin’s classroom. For most of Mr. Cough-
Clock-wise from top left: Mr. Coughlin (third grade), Mr. Urbon (seventh grade science), Mr. Polikoff (seventh grade history), Mr. Fischetti (dean of eighth grade, eighth grade US history)
Polikoff, the seventh g rade histor y teacher. On test days, students are required to hand in a packet of ever ything they had done during that chapter in a specific order, with a title page stating that order, and all notes and homework dated
lin’s for mer students, third g rade was the highlight of the Lower School. Back when I was in Mr. Coughlin’s class, Clay Berger threw the first sticky man up on the ceiling and now there are about 200 stuck. I can confir m the origi-
nal still hangs proudly, watching over the third g raders who walk through Mr. Coughlin’s doors. Mr. Coughlin is g oing to spend time with his family at home this break (perhaps par tly due to the fact that he has a nine-month old daughter who is “not yet ver y fun to travel with”). One of the only bad par ts of the third and four th g rade years were “Word Masters,” which consisted of 20 questions involving vocab words and their definitions. Yet, somehow Mr. Coughlin always made even this fr ustrating exercise fun. With many g ames and quizzes on the words, students all did exceptionally well on the tests. Sadly, the curriculum g ot rid of the Word Masters about five years ag o because it took up too much time. Another famous par t of Mr. Coughlin’s third g rade experience was “book bing o,” where kids have to read either a spor ts book, biog raphy, award winning book, series, or some poetr y, and then build a little scene or other project based on the book of choice. For example, if you read a book on Derek Jeter, you might make a miniature Derek Jeter locker out of shoebox and put impor tant facts and pictures in it. For the new generation of third g raders, this project is now called “genre palooza,” and is designed to focus more on different genres and creative projects. “The Oreg on Trail” is the highlight of third g rade for any student, especially those with Mr. Coughlin. Students are put into “families,” and par ticipate in activities such as buying food, making pancakes, and “saving” other classmates in the “wag on train”. The students also have to build “for ts” to keep war m at night. So, if you happen to be in the neighborhood of the Lower School, drop by Mr. Coughlin’s room and throw a stickyman on the ceiling, answer the Pregunta del Dia, or listen to some REM, because that’s how Mr. Coughlin does it.
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