SPARTA ROBOTICS ROCKS!

 

MEET SPARTA’S WINNING ROBOTICS TEAMS 

Three Sparta robotics teams make it to States in a large competition

By: Noelle Hanek

On Saturday, February 19th, the VEX Robotics competition took place at Sparta High School. There were sixty-four teams competing at the event, making it the largest VEX robotics competition in New Jersey this year. 

To make it to the top, a team had to make it through the two rounds of the event: the qualification round and the tournament. During the qualification round, each competing team’s robot was randomly paired against another team’s robot. These robots were designed and developed to accomplish certain tasks, with this year’s task consisting of scoring rings on goals and placing these goals on platforms. Each team is given a rank, and the top-ranking teams during qualifiers are allowed to choose their alliance partner for the tournament round, which will be run in a single-elimination format. Half of the sixty-four competing teams at Sparta made it to the tournament round. Three skillful Spartan teams were able to surpass the qualification round and make it to the tournament round- making them even closer to victory. 

One Sparta team that performed well was varsity team 5249Z, “Ring Leader”, including Sarah Bargfrede (co-captain), Hayden Budofsky, Anthony DelCoro, Tanner Mell, Shaelin Murphy (primary coder) Andy Stefanik, and Nick Ventresca (co-captain and driver). Together, these hard-working students ranked 5th in qualifiers. The team additionally received the “Think Award” for their autonomous programming.

The other qualifying teams included:

5249 X “Magician” with Team Captain Bektar Totshev, and team members Liam Askin, Noah Atkins, and Nick Audino. 

5249 S “Maestro” with Team Captain Millen Duberry, and team members Tyler Harms, Shannon Lloyd, Brandon Louissaint, Cassidy Pry, and Andrew Reza. 

5249 J “Not to Scale” with Co-captains Laurel Ferguson and Jack Maraziti, and team members Jack Budofsky, Joe Byrnes, Matt Byrnes, and Kayleigh Simpson. 

All of Sparta’s qualifying teams will compete Holmdel on March 5th. 

Outstanding work Sparta Robotics, and best of luck to all the qualifying teams! 

Team members of 5249 Z, “Ring Leader” who ranked 5th in the qualifying round

Image from Sparta Independent: http://www.spartaindependent.com/news/local-news/sparta-robotics-ring-leader-team-ranks-5th-heads-to-the-states-AK1972075 

Sussex County Swim Recap

 SUSSEX COUNTY SWIM CHAMPS OVERVIEW

by Olivia Flanz 

Last week, highschoolers from all over Sussex County took their final dive for the swim season. With Covid canceling the swim championship last year, everyone was grateful to be able to gather with swimmers from all different schools for this occasion. 

For the women's rankings; Pope John placed 1st with 356 points, Lenape Valley placed 2nd with 196 points, Kittiney placed 3rd with 195 points, Jefferson placed 4th with 167 points, and Sparta placed fifth with 137 points. For the Men’s rankings, Pope John won against Newton with a difference of more than 100 points. 

While Sparta’s rankings in the Championship weren’t as high as the others, the team is proud of what they’ve accomplished this year considering being one of the smallest teams in the league, composed of only 22 swimmers. The Championship took place Sunday, January 30th at Kittatinny Regional High School. Mr. Pat Chodkiewicz and Mrs. Jessica Trappe coach the Sparta Swim teams.

WHAT'S YOUR BLOOM?

 What Flowers Are in your Bouquet this Valentine’s Day?

By Kavya Kamath

February 14th, 2022… Valentine’s Day. Whether you love it or you hate it, whether you have a valentine or you don’t, the day is fast approaching and flower sales will soon be booming. Valentine’s Day and receiving flowers from a crush or lover have long been intertwined, and between carnations, roses, lilies, tulips, and the alstroemeria, there are many Valentine’s Day flowers, each with their own unique meanings and special significance.

Most infamous in the Valentine’s bouquet are red, pink, and white roses: over half of all men and women buy roses on cupid’s holiday1! Synonymous with “romance, passion, and beauty,”2 roses are the valentine’s cult classic sure not to disappoint. Fragrant and lovely, the flower symbolizing love is undoubtedly the Valentine’s Day flower.

Despite the uncontested popularity of the rose, carnations also have considerable share in the Valentine’s flower market. This is largely due to the affordability, plethora of colors, and “girliness” of the flower,2 though added benefits include how long the flower lasts after being cut. But, to the average-flower buyer, this is immaterial. Instead, if your lover is a newer one, you can rely on the cutesy carnation instead of the intense rose to convey your depth of feeling.

Less common but still popular is the lily. Dramatic, bold, and fragrant, a bouquet of lilies is for the go-big-or-go-home, the do-or-die, the till-death-do-us-part lovers. The elegance and ostentation of its petals are not for the floral minimalist, but will announce your feelings without shame. To amp up the drama even further, the alstroemeria, or Peruvian lily, is another popular choice for the holiday. With multiple florets per stem and a little more delicacy than the true lily, the alstroemeria is its perfect counterpart in a bouquet of sophistication.

Finally, standing fully opposed to both lilies, is the classic tulip. Though not readily associated with Valentine's Day, the tulip’s simplicity and traditionally have roots in the Victorian Era.2 Long lasting and even simple, the tulip can convey pure and grounded love for anyone in your life, not just your lover. So yes, get your grandmother some tulips for Valentine’s Day, she will love them.

Roses Carnations Lilies Alstroemeria Tulips

Sources:

1: https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/living/valentines-day-statistics-btn/;

2: https://www.teleflora.com/blog/5-most-popular-flowers-to-give-on-valentines-day/

3: https://www.sendflowers.com/most-popular-valentines-day-flowers.htm

SEND SOME LOVE THIS MONTH!

 Send a Valentine to St. Judes Hospital

By Hayley Lane

Valentine’s Day is all about spreading love and joy to the people we care about. An easy way to spread love this Valentine’s Day is by sending a virtual valentine to a child in St. Judes hospital. 

All it takes is three simple steps: 

1. Choose your card design

2. Type your message

3. Send! 

The link can be found HERE. Seemingly small acts of kindness can go such a long way!! Happy early Valentine’s Day, Spartans.

NHS STUDENTS SHARE KNOWLEDGE WITH SMS STUDENTS

 NHS MIDDLE SCHOOL TUTORING SESSIONS

By: Noelle Hanek

Members of the National Honors Society are once again getting involved within their community- through tutoring! A new program was created for Sparta High School students to tutor Sparta Middle School students, grades six through nine, in both English and Math. The sessions are currently taking place after school, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from January to early March. The sessions last approximately one hour, with one session from 2:30-3:30, and another from 3:30-4:30. 

During the sessions, the high school students assist the younger grades with their homework assignments along with their supplemental work. For instance, senior Kavya Kamath who tutored 8th-grade math, explained how she and her peers aided students with their math homework and taught them new math lessons that they were particularly interested in. This program is helpful because it exposes students to a new learning environment with older students who they can look up to and connect with while allowing them to advance in their academics. It also allows the middle schoolers, especially the 8th graders, to become more accustomed to the high school by learning in the classrooms and interacting with high schoolers. In fact, the teacher ambassador of NHS, Mrs. Kopp noted that many middle school parents emailed to profess how happy they are with the program. They expressed how “wonderful the after school tutoring program was” and that their children “felt comfortable and happy and are excited to come back again”. 

It is great to see the success of a program where students help other students succeed! It is certain that the The National Honors Society, as well as other clubs and organizations within the high school, will continue to make a difference in the school community through their continued involvement. 

Images from https://classroomclipart.com/    and             https://www.clipartmax.com/