June 2022
Tappan Zee High School Volume LXII, Issue 4
Tapress
Huang and LaGreca Lead the 2022 Class By Matthew Tobin Congratulations to Henry Huang for being the valedictorian and Bettina LaGreca for being the salutatorian of the Tappan Zee High School Class of 2022! Senior Henry Huang plans to study computer science at Harvard University. Huang is a National Merit Scholarship finalist, a NYSSMA All- State violinist, the New York State Scholar-Athlete Swimmer of the Year, and the senior class president. It is natural to wonder how one person could do so many things and do them so well. ?I was lucky enough to start early,? Huang said. ?I started swimming at age 7. I?ve had dedication to it; it took years of work.? Huang credits his success to keeping college in mind while still focusing on enjoying himself. ?I enjoyed the activities and dedicated myself to them,? he said. He also gives credit to ?hard work, mindset, and a very lucky upbringing. My parents and my siblings educated me about colleges. I was very lucky to have these opportunities.? Of all his accomplishments, Huang says that he is most proud of his results in swimming. In addition to being the NYS Scholar-Athlete Swimmer of the Year, Huang holds the Tappan Zee High School record for the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.00 seconds. ?There?s so much behind the scene that goes into it, training myself alone at the gym,? he said. Swimming plays an important role for Huang. He says ?swimming is the main thing that has been throughout my life. It taught me my mindset, to persevere through what I do, like schoolwork. It?s been the most pain I?ve ever been in in my whole life. To know I can persevere through that, I know I can do anything as long as I commit time to it.? To the students of Tappan Zee, Huang emphasized the mindset people have. "You have a lot of choice in life. It's just how you think of something. Two people will approach a situation and think of it in two different ways.?
Senior Bettina LaGreca is a Peer Leader, a member of the TZ United Club, and the senior class treasurer. She plans to study business at Boston College. LaGreca says that her extracurricular activities ?have a common theme of bringing the community together.? Through the Senior Seminar class, she is an intern at United Way of Rockland. ?I help them with budgeting and preparing for their Spring Days of Caring,? she said. LaGreca also works at OMM Orangetown Youth Soccer Association, ?serving food, taking orders, and cleaning.? Working an internship and a job can be demanding on top of school and homework. She says that on a typical day, ?I would go to school in the morning, then I would intern from 2:30 to 5, and then I would go to work from 5 to 9. During AP season, that was stressful.? Now, LaGreca is finished with her internship and appreciates her newfound free time, taking time to go to the gym. During her time at Tappan Zee, LaGreca took quite a few math and science Photo Courtesy of SOCSD Communications classes. She says, however, that for classes, ?it?s good to have diversity.? She Henry Huang (left) and Bettina LaGreca are named class of 2022 valedictorian and particularly highlighted AP Calculus BC. salutatorian, respectively. ?Calc BC was the most difficult of any math class that I?ve taken,? LaGreca said. As advice for the incoming TZ students, LaGreca said, ?I like the idea of learning new things and I like the chal- ?Don?t be afraid of being open- minded about changing lenge.? She also emphasized physics, noting that ?you what you want to do. You never know if you?re gonna have to be willing to try to connect certain topics. It?s like something. And relax; grades don?t mean everything. about being open-minded." It?s just a number and one bad grade won?t kill you.?
Youthand GovernmentHostsSecondBOE CandidatesForum By Nuala Mahady As the school year nears its close, residents all across the district were faced with a very important task: voting in the district?s Board of Education election. On May 4, 2022, the Youth and Government Club had the opportunity to host the district?s Board of Education forum. The forum offered an opportunity for candidates to put forth their views and ideas regarding the future of the school district. Both incumbents, Daniel Lamadrid and Cara Stepanian, and challengers, Steve Finn and David Sansone, made valid points and seemed to have the students' best interests at heart. What was more interesting, however, was the structure of the debate. The debate was hosted by TZ?s Youth and Government Club. Club members lined up and asked questions that were submitted by community members. According to YAG co- president Amy Kugelman, the Youth and Government Leadership, along with the PTA,
?sorted through the questions [and] decided how to make the many questions asked concisely and generally to ensure everyone?s concerns were heard.? Each candidate was asked the same questions and was given a fixed amount of time to respond. For the next part, candidates were asked more questions and told to answer in one word only?which provided the audience with a very entertaining and informative 30 minutes. When asked why the club wanted to be involved in the BOE forum, Kugelman said, ?Youth and Government wanted to host the Board of Education forum to help spread awareness of the elections in our community to students, as well as adults.? Every student deserves the right to know what decisions are being made about their education. Attending an event like this is a good and easily-accessible way to do that. Voting has become something of a hot issue in recent years. New adults need to know how important their vote is, especially when it impacts something on the local
Photo Courtesy of Katrina Peel Student moderators Matt Tobin and Katrina Peel asked questions of the four school board candidates on May 4, 2022.
level. Students who can vote have the opportunity to directly affect their community, and it is important that they try to be involved in the process. Kugelman agreed, citing that she ?believes even when students don?t have a government interest, they should be aware of what is going on at the local level. While they may not know what happens at the state level, most decisions made at the local levels will directly impact them, their education, or their family. I find it vital to see who will be making these decisions for the coming year and where they hold their values, and this forum was the perfect way to see this.? This is not Kugelman?s first forum, either. She may be a seasoned veteran, but that never stops her from enjoying the event. ?The forum was a positive experience for me! I found it intriguing how each candidate comes from a different career and has different perspectives on the debate topics and the Board of Education as a whole.? Today?s youth is all about making their voices heard, and many students don?t realize how powerful their opinions and concerns can be on the local level. Kugelman shares this concern and thinks that ?many students do not realize they can vote. [The forum] was one of the many ways we could spread awareness to our classmates! Having a student-run club moderate the candidate forum for local elections is a fantastic chance for students to participate in local government.? And that?s not all! As Kugelman says, there are many other benefits to attending a BOE forum. ?Even if someone does not ask a question but is still interested, it can only be beneficial to hear what is going on, as it can be highly educational. Coming to a local forum lets you listen to what community members find vital in their candidates and where their concerns lie.? For those really interested, ?Students can become involved in their local government by doing internships with assemblymen or women like some of our club members have,? Kugelman said. In a tight vote, the community elected Mr. Finn and Mr. Sansone as new board members.