RPS Today

Introduction of the RPS D&D Club

By: Matthew Telyczka Club/RPS Today Editor

Each adventure, she mentions, is unique. After this brief discussion, I felt surprised but mostly impressed that a brand-new club had already gained so many members. I was a little intimidated by the chaos when I entered the room. Everybody was doing their own thing – setting up for their session, working on production(essentially, production is the process of making the game more fun by enhancing art/ creation), or simply observing the players. I was observing. I found that amidst the shouting, the background noise, and the fantastic narration by Mr. Foil, this club was a space where anybody could be anything. According to the club presidents,

Nathaniel Martin ’24 and Jaden Mendez ’24, the club was created as a safe space where you get to escape from workload and stress for an extraordinary twenty minutes. So far, the club has 30 members who are either playing, waiting for the chance to play, learning to be Dungeon Master (this person runs the game), or doing production to make the game more fun for the players. The current players have just started their adventures with their parties. Nathaniel Martin also added that the club leaders “[We] try to have everyone help out with something -- that’s why most of the members that aren’t playing are diverted to our production crew.” Martin also highlights the club’s members and how grateful he is to have such an understanding and helpful environment as he leads

Cricket Club

By: Jesse Kleinman’23 withquotesfromVikrantPalaparthi’23,RithikMandalapu’23,andJakeRiggi’23

“RPS Cricket Club is not just a club but a representation of the cultural diaspora of this school,” Rithik Mandalpu said when I asked him about it. For those of you who don’t know, cricket is a bat and ball sport much like baseball where the objective is to score as many runs as possible in a set number of balls. Invented in England but popularized across the globe, cricket has become the second most popular sport in the world according to WorldAtlas. This past year, we aimed to bring a little slice of this sport to Prep’s campus. At first, we organized games on a weekly basis and formed our own tight knit group of students. We decided to form our own league, with 4 teams of 6 dedicated players each, captained by Vikrant Palaparthi, Rayaan Sheikh, Brendan Coulthard, and Rithik Mandalapu. Two games a week and lots of planning culminated with a playoff series and championship game on May 25th. We played hard, and we took these games seriously, but what ultimately mattered most was the connections we made. When I asked Vikrant, our founder, what these last few weeks meant to him, he said, “ Cricket is my life and it feels good to share a little bit of that world with my mates and see them enjoying it. You see kids who’ve never picked a bat up before suddenly fall in love with the game. The genuine competitiveness of the tennis ball tournament made it a joy to run as well.” We were able to bring countless students of all races, backgrounds, and ethnicities together through a sport that is broadly unknown in America. Coming into this season, most of our players had never touched a bat, didn’t know the rules, or didn’t even know what cricket was. “Cricket Club is incredibly open and accepting, making the sport of cricket easy and fun to learn. Cricket Club made my transition into the Rutgers Prep community much easier,” new student Jake Riggi said.

As the commissioner of the league and a co-founder of the club, I couldn’t be happier with how this last year turned out. What started as a joke last spring has become a reality in our eyes and in our hearts. On behalf of myself and the rest of the leadership of RPSCC, I would like to thank Mrs. Burk for her help in organizing a location for us to play, Mr. Lake for his help as our advisor, and Mr. Hussian for the use of his classroom space and his never ending dedication to helping us succeed. With that, we invite you all to join us come see what cricket can

Poetry is known as an expression of the feelings and artistic values of a person. And in the form of a book, current student and junior Beth Portnoy has donated her two pieces of herself, “Lorem Ipsum Dolor” and “The Sunday of Summer,” to Rutgers Preparatory School’s library. Beth’s poetic journey started in the seventh grade, where she would eventually fall in love with the freedom it gave to her and look up to writer Christopher Paolini: an American author who published his first book at 16 years old. From a young age, Beth made it her goal to publish a book before her role model’s record, eventually succeeding just a month before her 16th birthday.

Her first book, LoremIpsum Dolor, was a progression of finding herself, and represents the theme of old to new. The title translates to “The pain itself”

The Rutgers Prep Girls Soccer Team is the NJ Prep B State Champs. Being on the team, I have to say it was no sur- prise the girls made it to the State Finals. It was freezing outside, but the weather couldn’t stop the girls soccer team. We were all nervous for this huge game. After having a great run throughout the season, the girls were ready to show DePaul who the state champ is. This game was revenge for the unfortunate loss last season, one that nev- er should’ve happened. Syrai Parker ’24 was in goal, ready to not even give the other team’s offense a glimpse at a goal, especially with Bri- elle Baker ’25, who helped every position with get- ting the ball across

Student Spotlight: Newest Young Author Beth Portnoy’s Work in RPS Library

By: Kelli Chang’25 Guest Writer

in Latin, which Beth notes that her use of Google translate was frowned upon by the Latin teachers of Rutgers Prep. The first half of the book, titled “I remembered,” covers the theme of nostalgia, reflecting on Beth’s past memories, such as watching the trees in her neighborhood slowly grow with the years. The second half, titled “I conquered,” represents coming of age. In contrast to the first half, it is written with a more personalized style and tells the story of progression and the growth of the narrator.

“The Sunday of Summer” records Beth’s daily life through poems for the month of August. She notes that August is like the Sunday or weekend of the year, leading to the imminent doom that is the school year, similar to how Sunday brings the impending doom of school work. Each poem reflects the emotions felt and events of each certain day, all of them unintentionally forming a plot. Through writing this book, Beth notes that she underestimated the number of occurrences happening in a month, and is currently working on a similar, larger project spanning the course of an entire year. After both collections were finished, Beth chose an independent method of publishing the books, creating the format and book covers herself. Determined to spread her work and message, Beth emailed Dr. Chodl, to ask for her books to be added to the school library for students to read. Since then, both books have been sitting welcomingly at their new home at the Rutgers Prep Library, sure to inspire new authors.

Rutgers Prep Girls Soccer Wins States

field and was a force to be reckoned with, and Ava Mason ’26, who kept composure during such a big game and contributed to this brick wall of a defense. DePaul struggled to shoot while we did not.

Arianna Peart ‘25 and Ellie Robertson’25 connected the field, relentlessly running back and forth to keep up with the fast pace of this game. Meli- na Rebimbas, returning from her World Cup was confident in the team— without her, the team would lose its charm and composureand Addison Halpern, only a sophomore who never fails to make every game hers, are the perfect offense. Throughout the game, Rutgers Prep was dom- inating, but we were not able to finish through.

By: Siya Angras Co-Editor-in-Chief

It made me consider checking the goalpost to see if someone had rigged it. By the second half, the game was tied. And nerves were even higher. Halftime was stressful, but empower- ing. We all knew whose game it was.

Olivia Rob- inson ’26 and Alexa Lee ’26 all had a great game, nothing shy of what they had shown us all season. As freshmen they have already stunned every- one, and I cannot wait to hear about what more they do in future seasons. The upperclassmen and captains Alexa DeBarros’ 23 and Hailey Huseth’ 23 played their last HS game with strength. They left all they had out on that field. The final score was 3-1, the goals having been scored by Addy (1) and

Melina (2). But every girl on the team had some contribution to this win. As the manager of the team, I have to say the team is determined, supportive, and loving. I am so happy we got the title we worked so hard for. Get ready to see a whole lot of state champ rings in the hallways because the Girls Soccer team will wear them with pride.

Excited to beat Christopher Paolini’s record, Beth notes that “There is a time when you stop looking up to your heroes and start trying to beat them.” Her ultimate aspiration is to someday make it onto Rutgers Prep’s Wikipedia list of notable alumni.

Playing Yourself Review

By: Siya Angras ‘23 Co- Editor-in-Chief

The fall play, written by Ms. Cora Turlish, explored Gen Z’s life today. It centered around an ice cream shop, The I.C. Cas- tle. This ice cream shop was a safe haven, away from the struggles the group of young adults faced in the outside world. Whether it be moving to a new place, struggling with school, or dealing with a breakup. The play also discussed topics such as COVID Impact and school shootings. But throughout all these hardships, the I.C Castle gave the characters stability. The production of the play was great. I have to commend the work of anyone who helped out behind the scenes. The transitions between scenes were seamless, and the set was beautiful. The actors were phenomenal as usual. Every play, the cast sets the standard higher for the next seasonal play. Anika Ganesh’23, played the lead role; her character Vini- ta was compassionate, strug- gling with troubles under the surface, but a beam of joy. Anika com- formed into this character. Taylor Repollet’ 23 played Vineeta’s friend, Liv. Taylor brought vulnerability to this comedic play. She played a character struggling with grief, and one scene in her monologue really moved the crowd. Ryan Bathan’23 played Vineeta’s fake boy- friend but real love interest. This relationship can only be explained by what Laura Jean and Peter Kavinsky had in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Ryan played the role very well. His aspirations to go to Duke should’ve stuck with the crowd of Seniors probably avoiding doing their college apps as the play was going on.

Michael On-

yekwere ‘23 and Cory Lucid ’24 played a couple with an uncomfortable age gap. But they were enamored with each other. The two characters were complemented with Aanya Jeganathen ‘25 ‘s character going through a breakup that was constantly mentioned. The IC Manager, played by Jay Chavan’ 26, was the most stable character in the play, constantly yelling and eventually getting caught in his own ego. I can’t say I wasn’t upset when he was fired. Last but not least, the most phenomenal character... the tik tok dancer. Each time she came out onto the stage the crowd screamed louder and louder. Overall,

I think the play had a bunch of great individu- al scenes. The actors played their roles to the fullest. The puns had the crowd laughing, sometimes when we weren’t supposed to, but I think that demonstrates great act- ing. Great job to anyone in- volved in this production!

TheAddamsFamily: the Pit Perspective

On October 13th, 2022, it was revealed that this year’s musical would be The Addams Family. Aspiring cast, crew, and pit orchestra members all gathered together for the announcement, and the anticipation for the next few months of preparation was almost tangible. This was my second time being part of the pit, and I couldn’t wait for another chance to create something amazing.

It was great to work with my fellow musicians again, both veterans and newcomers. We had even less rehearsal time than last year, and there were several pieces that we just couldn’t get right, rehearsal after rehearsal. However, with Mrs. Peterson’s guidance (and mid-rehearsal donuts), we managed to run through the book a

By: Jaden Chen’23 Science Co-Editor

few times before winter break. Little by little, we got a grasp on the music. During two rehearsals in late January, the cast came to sing with the orchestra as part of the Sitzprobe. This collaboration brought about a whole new array of problems with timing and dialogue, but it was a great feeling to finally make sense of the tricky rhythms and harmonies we’d been struggling with for months. Everything finally started coming together. But large events like the musical are never that easy. As the week of the opening night came around, Deyana Abelhady, playing the lead role of Morticia, became sick and lost her voice. Her role was taken up by her understudy, Niara Beckwith, who only had those few days to memorize lines, learn songs, and practice choreography with the rest of the cast. Despite all these challenges, Friday night was just around the corner, and there was nothing else to do but put on our best possible performance.

All I could think of during the shows were our mistakes. On Friday, the piano decided to stop working right as Mr. Seamon, the music director, had to give a crucial cue. Lines were spoken too quickly, skipped, and mixed up, and everyone had to adjust on the fly to keep the show smooth. I missed entrances and played the wrong notes more than I could count. However, looking back, I only remember the beautiful songs, emotional acting, and hilarious jokes. Michael Onyekwere’s performance as Gomez was a perfect blend of passion and silliness; Jordyn Sutton’s portrayal of Wednesday and rendition of “Pulled” were incredible; Justin Moore as Fester sung “The Moon and Me” beautifully; Ren Lian and Cordelia Lucid pulled off Mal and Alice’s dynamic in “Crazier Than You” perfectly; and, of course, Niara and Deyana both stole the spotlight as Morticia.

This was my last musical at RPS, along with a dozen other cast, crew, and pit members, and the final show on Sunday came to an emotional close. We gave our production staff gifts and expressed gratitude for their unwavering support and kindness. Though we might never have another experience like this, the memories that we made are priceless, and I will never forget the 2023 RPS Musical, The AddamsFamily

The RPS Art Club has been working extensively on The Memory Project, a non-profit that first started out as a way for students across the country to create art for underprivileged children in various countries around the world each year. Through cultural connections, students are able to create portraits of youth who have faced difficulties such as war, poverty, and famine. This year, the country is India, and artists have been matched with children living in foster care. The children will be given a portrait of themselves at the end, and the overall goal is to help children feel valued and cared for in a way that expands beyond words or charity.

About 21 students, many advisors, and leaders have been involved in the process of organizing participation across members of the club.