December 2017 by MFS WordsWorth

WHOLE LOTTA SOUL

Soul Food Fest Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Staff Writer

For two decades, Soul Food Fest has brought together the Moorestown Friends School community as a way to enjoy people’s company and people’s different cultures. The event is organized and hosted by the Martin Luther King Club.

Originally starting as a multicultural lunch held only for the members of the MLK club, Soul Food Fest has evolved into an MFS tradition meant to bring people together. “It’s important for people to be able to come together around food. When you bring in food you’re also bringing pieces of you and your culture along with it,” explained Middle School Dean of Students Tina Corsey. Corsey originally ran Soul Food Fest.

Corsey explained that when Soul Food Fest was starting out, people would say they didn’t know how to cook soul food. “We would tell them that soul food is not fried chicken and [that] type of food, but [it’s] food that makes them feel happy and represents who they are.”

Organizing a lunch for over 300 people is no small feat. Starting in late October or early November, the MLK club begins to brainstorm ideas for different foods and roles during the event. MLK members are encouraged to

Larry Brandimarto is the Maintenance Supervisor and has been with Moorestown Friends for 27 years.

What makes a ‘good day’ at work? When everything goes right, guys show up on time. They’re here and there’s no problems with the school.

What made you choose your job/ choose MFS?

It was an opportunity of taking over a school that I always wanted to do. I was a boilermaker before that and I wanted to be around kids and people. The school was in bad shape at the time and I knew I could turn it around.

What do you like about working at MFS?

The kids, the teachers, even the outside people - neighbors, my guys - it’s just a whole family type of atmosphere; it’s different from where I worked before, where it was constantly doing different things and having problems with other people, but here it’s just like a growing family. You don’t mind coming here. Seeing you guys with a smile on your face, and things like that, that makes it for me.

out to you? Has there been anything in particular that you have observed at MFS that touched you? Every year was like a moment to me, because

contribute as much as they can by donating food and other utensils, MLK Secretary Han Nguyen told WordsWorth. “We delegate roles such as runners, playlist makers, servers, etc. to make sure that we have a well rounded and prepared team so that the [lunch] runs smoothly.”

For this year’s 20th anniversary, the Martin Luther King Club prepared new T-Shirts and wristbands. MLK Club Treasurer Mya Corsey explained how the club wanted to get new t-shirts to make the 20th anniversary special: “We’re trying to make it a bigger deal this year than it usually is.” The club picked a design for the T-shirt out of three options. The wristbands were a new idea the club had this year, according to Mya Corsey.

MLK Club President Moises Cosme told WordsWorth what makes Soul Food Fest special

for him: “What warms my heart the most is the thought that a plate, as small as it may be, can come to represent our community as a whole. On one plate, you can have an infinite variation of foods from different cultures.”

“It’s awesome because MLK club puts it together but the whole school makes it

when I got here, the school was in pretty bad shape, and every year we did something completely different: we changed the windows; we changed the lockers; we did different things. I mean, there were some big moments for me, but it wasn’t like we came to a school that was brand-new. It was a really old school that we had to redo completely. Every year would probably [special to me].

What are your hobbies? Favorite TV shows? Pets? Books? I fish and hunt during the winter and summer. We have a dog and I love animals. I’m not really big into TV. If I do watch TV, it’s whatever my wife wants to

How

By Andrew Rowan ‘19, Editor-in-Chief; Chloe Jones ‘18, Editor-in-Chief; Esha Nittoor ‘20, Print Edition Editor; Liah Morban ‘21, Staff Writer; and Jayson Rhone ‘21,

Photo courtesy Diana Day / MFSWordsWorth

Photo by Andrew Rowan ‘19, Editor-in-Chief & Fox Tracks Executive Producer (From left to right): Arnell Palmer, Val Soto, Larry Brandimarto, Kerry Slimm, and John Barbadoro

Photo courtesy The Cupola / Moorestown Friends Yearbook The 1997 MLK Club, who put on one of the first Soul Food Fests.

To: MFS

“Spending Time with family - Good; Materialism - Bad.” Holiday specials have time and again echoed this message that the holidays are for spending time with families, and not for materialistic pursuits such as giving and receiving gifts. But where’s the fun in that? We at Wordsworth believe that a good mix of quality family time and gift giving is the perfect recipe for holiday cheer. This year’s Gift Guide celebrates some of the most supportive, close knit, (and let’s be honest, easiest to joke about) families at MFS: the sports teams. So grab your loved ones and enjoy as we present our gift to you -

Holiday Gift Guide Edition. Happy Holidays!

From: The Staff of MFS Wordsworth

team players? Get these fantastic colorful soccer socks! With this pair of fancy socks, you stand out from the crowd so your supporters can always locate and cheer for you! Amazon, $12.99

BOUNCY

GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM:

FOR THE BASEBALL TEAM:

6’ X 12’ TURF MATS (A LOT OF THEM)

Everybody is familiar with the saying, “April showers bring May flowers”! Luckily, most people are able to get through the rainy days of April by looking ahead to the warmer weather that is brought along with May. Unfortunately for the baseball team, a large portion of the season takes place in April. And you know what that means….. Indoor practice! With enough of these turf mats, the baseball team will be able to construct a miniature version of a traditional field in the Red Gym and practice as if they’re outside! Amazon, $259.99

BINOCULARS

The field hockey field is quite large which can make seeing the entire field difficult. Getting a pair of binoculars will make it easy to see the entire field, so the players don’t have to worry about whether a ball is in or out of bounds.

Eye Buy Direct, $15

A STOPWATCH For anyone that’s seen a field hockey game, the girls barely get

Sporting Goods, $11.99.

A MAP OF MOORESTOWN

Now presenting a solution to the frequent breaks the

A NOISE COMPLAINT

This note is the epitome of importance right now. To you we present...a noise complaint for all the racket you’ve been causing. Yes, don’t fret. We do understand, you’re having a ball with the rest of the team, but this racket must end soon.

A Referee, $Love

DRAGON BALL

Not doing so well on the team? Have no fear, the new dragon ball is here! Play your next season with this flaming tennis ball and win every time. The dragon ball will burn so bright, it will mesmerize your opponents, and with its speed, they’ll never be able to hit it. You’ll definitely be the highlight of every match you strike! Amazon, $4.99

then take another one. For early morning practices and meets. Amazon, $22.54 per pack

FOR THE FENCING TEAM:

ANOTHER NEW COACH

Every year, the fencing team gets a new coach. So why not get the jump on next season by pre-ordering a new coach for the MFS Fencing team? What other way is there to spice things up every season and keep the fencers on their toes? With a rotating roster of coaches, MFS is sure to get better at fencing every year. Available wherever Mr. McGinn can keep finding new coaches, Prices may vary Photo by Aaron Klein

Art and Design

also works during important matches, when the school community comes out to support the team. Instead of having everyone smush into a few bleachers, each person can comfortably watch the game on their own tennis bean bag. Amazon, $229.99

TENNIS BALL KITCHEN TIMER Hate having to sit in the Field House just WAITING until the Middle School tennis team finishes their practice? Well, forget having to stare out the window, just put the timer on for an hour and do something else! Then, when it rings, come back ready to play. And, because it looks like a real tennis

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

Photo Courtesy of Cafepress

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Wordsworth’s

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

December 15th, 2017

Get to Know the MFS Maintenance Staff

Written by the MFS WordsWorth staff

What makes a ‘good day’ at work?

When traffic goes smooth.

What made you choose your job at MFS?

Well I’ve always liked being outside. I’ve been outside my whole life and I play sports, so being outside, taking care of sports fields…I was like ‘I’d probably like that’ and I love it.

What do you like about working at MFS?

Mostly the people--everybody. All of you, teachers, everybody.

Has there been anything in particular that you have observed at MFS that touched you?

Yeah, a lot of things. I’ve been here 11 years now and last year there was a kid and his name was Andrew. I knew him since he was probably about 6 years old and he was just a small guy. He would toss a football to me… I could remember that. And then to watch him go from 6 years old to see him graduate, it was pretty awesome. And he got big, so little Andrew was like 6’3 now! To see that, it really touched me, to watch him grow.

What are your favorite hobbies?

Spend time with my family, that’s it. Go places.

Do you have a favorite TV show?

Yeah, yeah, I do. Shameless and Empire... I’m forced to watch it though but, I guess I like it now.

What can we do to make your job easier?

I would say, lending a hand. Helping out cleaning up. If someone drops a bottle on the ground maybe we shouldn’t all walk by it. It helps keep the campus clean. It’s not much but helping out like that, keeping it tidy. We have the best school in the world, I think, so let’s keep it that way.

Do you have any crazy traffic duty stories that you can share with us?

Yes! I have like a million. I would say the craziest traffic story was a grandparent was coming down towards the hippo where I was standing and I don’t how he did it but his car ended up near the hippo. He jumped the curb and I thought he was gonna hit the white building but he didn’t. He actually stopped near the hippo. Thank God no one was hurt. That was probably the craziest one.

Valerio Soto has been with Moorestown Friends for 3 years.

What makes a ‘good day’ at work?

I would say communication, getting along with the people you work with...the right hirees. That’s basically it.

What do you like about working at MFS?

I’d say the friendliness of the people, the students. I don’t know if you’ve ever been at a public school but it’s a lot different...Public schools where I came from you needed not just security guards but cops on site. I was impressed coming here and not seeing security.

Has there been anything in particular that you have observed at MFS that touched you? The friendliness and courteousness of the staff and kids. The kids are very well behaved. This was the initial impression when I first came in and still...to this day.

Do you have any hobbies, favorite TV shows, pets, or books?

Mm...no pets..I play the guitar. I don’t really watch TV. I usually am on the computer. I actually used to work in computer maintenance.

How can we make your job easier? Basically don’t destroy the property cause we’re the ones who have to fix it.

Do you have any crazy stories from work that you can share with us? Crazy stories...when it pertains to the job yeah. Tending to emergencies,catering to the boss when things go wrong. It’s basically a multitasking job like you think you’re going to have a nice day but you have to stop and attend to other things happening.

What makes a ‘good day’ at work?

I just like coming in...it’s all a good day, you wake up, you’re alive, you do your work, you do your thing. It’s nice for me because I come in at six, and I like the outdoors a lot, and I get done at 12. It’s a nice place to work...It’s a good day here, everyday.

What would be one gift you think you’d like to get this holiday season?

I would love Cabelas. Cabelas gift cards. It’s a huge hunting and fishing store, I love that store.

How can we make your job easier?

I guess if there were things or trash on the ground, you could pick some of that up if you saw it, things like that. Little things. I know

sometimes in the bleachers there’s a lot of things left, if you could remember to take them.

Can you tell us about some of your hobbies outside of work? I like the outdoors a lot. I’ve been working outside with my backhoe for 28 years...I like to hunt and fish a lot. My kids did a lot of sports, so I like watching them play football or stuff like that when they were kids.

What made you choose your job?

I started working here as a contractor, maybe 15 years ago. There was a really big snow storm, and Larry needed a backhoe. I was riding down the street and he saw me, that’s how we met. I did a lot of contacting jobs here...I liked it here a lot, so now I’m retired and I said

Kerry Slimm has been with Moorestown Friends for 3 years.

What

I’ve

where I wanted to work.

What would be the best gift for the maintenance group for the holidays?

No snow [Laughs]. I think just like a card to show that we’re appreciated. Let us know if we’re doing a good job or if there’s anything we can do. Nothing big. Just to show we’re appreciated.

Arnell Palmer has been with Moorestown Friends for 11 years.

John Barbadoro has been with Moorestown Friends for 6 months.

Photo courtesy Diana Day / MFS Wordsworth