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CommentaryCaitlin Says Thank-You and Farewell.BY CAITLIN CHARETTE ‘10Co-Editor in ChiefThe pen is mightier than thesword if it is wielded by the rightperson. I truly believe that writingis both an expressive art form andan outlet for feelings and ideas thatmight otherwise be suppressed.For the past two years, Atlas hasbeen a forum in which to hone mywriting skills outside of the classroom; allowing me to write morehands-on, investigative piecesabout topics I know and experience, as opposed to feigning interest in literature or historical eventsthat have little bearing on thecourse of my life. I have been ableto express my opinions througheditorials as well as stay informedabout events taking place in, orbehind the scenes of, Wilbraham &Monson Academy.Each time a new issue arrives in the reception office, I rushto open the box and remove thefirst paper from atop the stack. Ihold it, smell the freshly printedink, and proceed to set them outin various spots in Rich Hall andthe library. I’m certain that in mycrazed excitement I have accostedsome of you in the halls, shouting, and waving papers in yourface. You’ve accepted copies withtrepidation, purely out of fear thatthe look in my eye would manifest itself into a rage in which youbecome the unfortunate victim of atraumatic paper-cut or ink poisoning accident.In all seriousness, the paperis the product of hours of hardwork by myself, Mr. Harrington,Eric Diogun ’11, Minsang Kim’10, and all the staff-writers, andit is something that I take pridein. When I see people reading thepaper or hear them talking abouta specific article I feel as if I’vedone my job, and that I’ve made atangible contribution to the WMAcommunity.Isaac Newton once said: “IfI have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.Throughout my tenure at WMAand as a member of the Atlas staff,I have certainly stood on manyshoulders, and not just because Iam vertically challenged.Mr. Harrington you havebeen my teacher, quasi collegecounselor, and mentor for the pasttwo years. I have learned morefrom your informal lectures anddiscussions during Tuesday nightAtlas meetings than in any class-room. You strengthened my passion for writing and sparked myinterest in journalism. Being thenewspaper advisor is a huge commitment, and I sincerely thank youfor taking the time to make Atlaspossible.Eric, I know, without adoubt, that I drove you to within aninch of your sanity with my incessant pleas for help and my inadequate command of technology.Atlas would have been a randomcollection of articles with no format or pictures if it hadn’t been foryou. Thank you for being patient,most of the time, and I wish youluck with your academic endeavorsand with Atlas next year.Minsang, we worked surprisingly well together as co-editors. You are the self-proclaimedmaster of efficiency, and cynicismfor that matter, and I’m thankfulyou were able to do the majority of the first draft editing whenI was dealing with writers andin-design issues. Good luck takingover Cambridge next year; Harvarddoesn’t know what they’ve gottenthemselves into.To my seniors, Willie, Jess,Tori, Rachael, and Kelsey: it’sbeen an honor to work with you in3the classroom as well as in Atlas.I thank all of you from the bottomof my heart, and I wish you all thebest of luck next year and beyond.I feel confident saying that you areall going places.To my dear underclassmen:I pass the pen to you. Thank youall for your hard work this year, Atlas would be a lonely, blank spacewithout your beautiful words. Iwish next year’s editors good luckand encourage all of you to keepAtlas alive and thriving.To Mr. LaBrecque andthe administration: you may notalways agree with or appreciatewhat we have to say, but the factthat you allow us to say it anywaymakes all the difference. Thankyou so very much for giving thestudents a voice in their community; it means more than you know.Finally, to our faithfulreaders: thank you for taking thetime to discover what we, the Atlasstaff, have to say, and supportingeach of us in our quest to find ourvoice. I can only hope that we havesuccessfully kept you informed andentertained.Farewell and Fair Fortune,Caitlin Charette Co-Editor in Chief.And Minsang (As Usual) Has the Last WordBY MINSANG KIM ‘10Co-Editor in ChiefI would like to thank Atlasmembers and readers but mostof all Mr. Harrington, CaitlinCharette, Eric Diogun, MagisterAyers, and Ms. Carey. Mr. Harrington for giving me the opportunity to be co-editor of the Atlas,proofreading many of the finaldrafts, teaching me how to write,and always being on time. CaitlinCharette for making my life a loteasier in checking up on what thestaff writers are doing and editingthe newspaper. Eric Diogun forall the tech stuff I could not makeheads or tails of. Magister Ayers for always having an article ortwo ready for us when we cameup short and always being therefor us. Ms. Carey for forgiving uswhen we had to put a rush order tothe publishing company that costthe school more money than wasbudgeted.On a separate note, I wouldlike to thank in no particular orderMs. Scott, Ms. Southworth, Ms.Shults, Ms. Fograshy, and Ms.Powers without whom I, and somany others, would probably nothave been able to function as astudent at WMA. My collegeapplications would not have beensent, my mail unread, my absencesun-excused, my packages forgotten, and my health suffering.It is 4:10 p.m. on May24th, 2010, and I just finished mylast class an hour ago. I see myco-editor wrote most of the “thankyou” stuff, and I wish to add tothe gratitude she expressed. Thatleaves me so much more space,500 words or so, to write aboutwhat I want to write about.The direction of Atlas asa student-run newspaper is of thegreatest importance to me. I feelthat last year, Atlas did not focusenough on representing the viewof the general student body andvoicing their complaints as well assuggestions for improvement. Thisyear, I feel Atlas has done a lot better in representing the view of thegeneral student body, their concerns, and their hopes for WMA.Readers may recall the article concerning girls’ rugby, for instance,that made a strong case for instituting girls’ rugby and showed howmany women in our school wantedto play rugby in the spring.Since Vietnam and Wa-tergate, media has taken a newdirection in serving as the watchdog of democracy rather than themouthpiece of the government.Media voices opinions that wouldotherwise go unheard to the powers that be and delivers solid newsimpartially. Media is at its best themouthpiece of the people, fromwhom all power of the governmentis derived; in the WMA community, the media is the Atlas, thepeople are the students, and thegovernment is the school. That is agoal I have been striving to achievewith Atlas. Atlas must safeguardand voice the students’ opinions aswell as it can. Remember, Atlasalways watches over the front entrance to Rich Hall.Most of our writers areunderclassmen, and I am gladbecause without a strong corpsof junior writers, the Atlas wouldflounder next year. I believe morethan half of our writers are juniorsand some of them are very promising writers. Special thanks to Jackie Smith without whom I wouldhave no idea what’s going on inthe school, Evan Filkins whom Iswear is going to be a bestsellingauthor one day if he chooses thatpath, and Jeremy Gilfor who is afunny writer with a granite foundation. I think Atlas will be in greathands next year and will undoubtedly prosper. I encourage currentsophomores who find themselvesin AP Language & Compositionclass in their junior year to join ifthey see a future in journalism orsimply want to improve their writing.Most of all, I wish goodluck to the presumably senior chiefeditor(s) next year. Finish yourcollege applications early. Editingthe Atlas took me even more timethan I took to study for other classes and do homework. I wish youwisdom in your editorial direction,forethought in assigning articles,efficiency in editing the articles,and excess patience in dealing withthe complaints and excuses of thestaff writers. And I have no ideawho the chief editor(s) is next year,so don’t ask me.To readers, keep readingand I assure you that you will beentertained.Farewell and Good HuntingMinsang Kim, Co-Editor in Chief

4FeatureAtlas Presents, Beyond the Blazers:Most Likely to Adopt a Child from Kenya Most Likely to Talk to a Monkey Most likely to Spend All Their Money at the Village StoreNamed DarwinBetty Shen and Andy MouZee Sulaiman and Steff RobbinsStephanie DuperreMost Likely to Use Ninja SkillsMost Likely to Trip at GraduationEmma CamilleriMost Likely to Find the Cure for Cancer and Lose It:Brian Carr and Lauren MarszalekMost Likely to Get Lucky With the Same GirlMost Likely to Be MistakenFor a Teddy BearMeg Cole, Colin Scott, and Ace DurongkapitayaMost Likely to Steal the Titan Mascot Most Likely to Be the NextLady GagaTrevor and Travis TreibtMost Likely to Change Their Name toMcLovinMitch Amelio and Mickey McCarthyVicky Pascual and Josh KingMost Likely to OutrunMs. Whipple’s Golf CartRickey Moore and Chris WilliamsSteve MarcusMost Likely to Chose “Part Of YourWorld” as Her Wedding SongMost Likely to Join the NRAAyano Konakamura and Roman TarasyukSara VincunasMost Likely to Prove the Existence ofMultiple UniversesWill Dziura and Richard ChangMost Likely To Steal Mike Tyson’s TigerMost Likely to Fist PumpChristine Anderson and Ashley DrostCasey Marini and Trevor MoranKatie SloanMost Likely to Secretly Watch Twilight Alone in Their Room: Chris Quinn and Mike Condon (or maybe they’ll watch it together)Most Likely to Use a Musical Instrument as a WeaponMost Likely to Break Rule #1Most Likely to Use a Pickup LineFrom an I-Touch ApplicationNate LeeMatt NatarioHenry Liao and Jenny Inn (it’s always the quiet ones)Most Likely to Wear Too Short a SkirtMost Likely to Be in a Beiber CoverBandJames Skiba and Charlie CorbettMost Likely To Work At Victoria’s SecretMost Likely to Be Put on Double-SecretProbation in CollegeBrian Sorrenson and Drew PehoviakPete Pascarelli and Alex DonovanHoward Lin

5Featurethe Keepin’ It Real Class of 2010 Superlatives List!Least Likely to Be Able to Ride a RollercoasterMost Likely to Name Her First Born“Taylor”Most Likely to Mooch While Attempting a Double McTwist 1260Most Voluminous HairAdam Ginsberg and Kelsey TomlinsonMost Likely to Wear a TogaKodi RobitaillePete Rakocevic, Wakasa Ito, andMicky RollingsNaofall “Ming” FolahanMost Likely to Broadcast Their Life on FacebookMost Likely to Ask an Impertinent Maoi Marcelino and Adrianne HansonQuestionMost Likely to Fix YourComputerMatt DiackMost Likely to Be Found at Dunkin Donuts:Alex SuTori Mordasky and Ed BerthaudMost Likely to Wear a Toga and Make ItLook FashionableWorst Case of SenioritisBest Nickname:Rachael Roy and NafiuConnor“Gypsy”Devivoand Ben “Baby Face” RussellAyatu-AbuSam KimMost Likely to Brighten Someone’s DayMost Likely to Compete in a Beauty PageantYun-Hye Lee and Moon HwangMost Likely to Pull Out His RUBIK’SCube On the First DateBridget O’Leary, Carlos Pascual and Gina SantanielloJefferson Lee and Hannah TanguayMost Likely to Have a Bro-manceMost Likely to Request a Single RoomJonathan BlazarMost Likely to Solve Fermat’s LastTheoremLeo Li and Eric OstromLuke HongMost Fantasy Crushes:Jess Wyszynski and Andre MaloufMost Likely to Bend It Like BeckhamAimee Adamski, Dave Lawrence, and AlexPortnoGvozden “G” Vukojevic and Milan DrecunMost Likely to Cast One of the Forbidden CursesWilllie Bourgeois and Amanda PierceMost Likely to Be Late For CommencementLindsey Hwang and Ravi LuMost Likely to Be Texting While ReceivingTheir DiplomasEric Dortch and Jennifer UllauriMost Likely to Get Lost (with a GPS)Sara Colburn and Alex BramucciMost Likely to Get Kicked Out of Wal-MartMost Likely to Take overthe WorldThe entire 2010 classMinsang KimMost Likely to Be Found atDunkin DonutsTori Mordasky and Ed BerthaudMost Likely to Incite a WildAnimal at the ZooCaitlin Charette and BrianFracasso

Community6Farewell Mrs. McGrath, Ms. TorresBY BEONG JO KANG‘11 &JEANNETTE VIENS ‘11Staff-writersthe new athletic center and track.She also pointed out howmuch she has enjoyed interacting with people at WMA. It washer “honor” to witness her middleschool students, whom she previously taught, grow up throughhigh school and graduate from theAcademy. Mrs. McGrath has notonly made a strong connectionwith the students but also with thefaculty.Recently, Mrs. McGrath’sexcitement has been focused on thedevelopment of the new StudentCenter, which she stated wouldIt was August 2003 whencontribute to an “overall developMrs. Lisa Palmero McGrath gradu- ment in student pride.”ated from Ithaca College in upstateUnfortunately, her serviceNew York and dropped her bagsat WMA is about to come an end,off at Wilbraham and Monsonas she will move to ConnecticutAcademy. She was to fill the postwith her husband and work at theof Director of Student Activities,Hopkins School in New Haven.teach 6th grade humanities, andShe concluded her statements byserve as a dorm parent to freshsaying, “thank you, Wilbraham &man boys on the first floor of Smith Monson families and friends, forHall.seven wonderful years and for givThroughout her tenureing me the opportunity to be a partMrs. McGrath said that she hadof the WMA community. I want towitnessed great progress in groups wish everyone the best of luck insuch as the Relay for Life, Bithe future.”centennial Scholar celebrations,Although you will be apartPrefect Program, Dorm Olympics,from our WMA community, weand the ground-breaking release of will not forget you, Mrs. McGrath;Good Luck, Mr. KwonBY JEREMY GILFOR ‘11Staff-writerEvery school has thatteacher that students love to hate,the one that’s ‘unfair’, or ‘toohard’ or a ‘jerk’. Apparently at ourschool, that is Mr. Will Kwon. Buthe is none of those things. Yes, hechallenges his students. Yes, hegives a lot of work. And, yes, hewill tell you if you are wrong. Butisn’t that what every teacher shoulddo?I can only speak from oneyear of personal experience withMr. Kwon, the AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, and Stocks/Bonds teacher. But that year hastold me everything I need to know.Mr. Kwon is a teddy bear. He getshis reputation because he believesin hard work, and lots of it.I took his AP Microeconomics class. Every day, therewas an official AP exam questionwaiting on our desks for us as aone-point quiz. Every night therewas homework. When a unit wasfinished, there was an exam. Wefinished all 23 chapters in our textbook well before the exam, whileother classes struggled to cram inthe information at the last minute.We took numerous practice exams,and saw literally every releasedmultiple choice and free-responsequestion. We were prepared. Weknew our stuff.And that is a teacher’s job,especially an AP teacher. Sure,some teachers are really nice, butyou learn nothing in their class andfail the exam. Not Mr. Kwon. Hemanages to combine the two. Contrary to popular belief, he is one ofthe nicest guys on campus.You will find him in his office well before eight in the morning, and he is often there until tenat night, tutoring students in everything from math to SAT prep toeconomics to college selection togeneral life. He is an honest, sweet,kind man who is interested only inthe success and well being of hisstudents.And so on behalf of all thestudents who appreciate what youhave done for us, I thank you Mr.Kwon – for being honest, for beinga true educator, and for being oneof the best teachers I have had thepleasure of having.you will always be in our hearts.Her office is organizedchaos in the form of poker chips,Relay for Life papers, and RockBand equipment. The walls areadorned with pictures from dances,basketball games. To top it off arethe flowers on her desk that are asbright as Ms. Torres’s personality.Ms. Lynes Torres hasworked at WMA for two yearsnow, but will be leaving us to attend graduate school at BostonUniversity. Her position as Activities Director will be incorporatedinto Mrs. Palmero McGrath’s position to form the “Head of Residential Life”.Even after the Student Activities Board disbanded, Ms. Torres still planned some spectacularevents. She said her favorite WMAactivity memory was during aQuiz Bowl Extravaganza last year.“People were going up to competein all types of arenas. There weremultiple choice questions andphysical challenges. The physical challenges were the highlightof the entire school year for me. Ididn’t even have to tell them whatto do after a while; they came upwith their own challenges.”Ms. Torres leaves WMAwith these last words: “Life atWMA will only be as good as youwant it to be. That goes for dormlife, academics, and activities. Youjust have to have an open mind,and be ready to have fun. And thatdoesn’t take a lot, just good company and good spirit.”Atlas also bids farewell toMs. Carol Daggs and Ms. LucyShrenker who have been the teachers and caretakers of WMA’s musicprograms these past two and a halfyears. Ms. Daggs says she plans tofocus on developing her wellnessstudio, called Jazzage MassageTherapy, which is located at 135State Street in Springfield. She willalso continue as Minister of Music at the Third Baptist Church inSpringfield.Prize Day Cont.Continued from Page 1English 9 – Emma A. BourgeoisEnglish 10 – YeonJoo LeeGeorge H. Hefflon MemorialAward – Jeremy L. GilforEnglish 12 – Steven P. MarcusHowe S. Newell Senior EnglishAward – Emma J. CamilleriExcellence in ESL – TayawatChirathivatVisual Art – Emma J. CamilleriMusic – Chien-Hsiang LiaoTheatre – Priyanka T. GeorgeRhode Island School of DesignAnnual Art Award – Adrianne T.HansonMarilyn Erickson MemorialPrize – Moon-Kyung HwangAlgbra I – Francisco A. BaltazarGeometry – Kristen E. KlebartAlgebra II – Yanjiang GuoPrecalculus – James A. BernardoAP Calculus AB – Brian M. CarrAP Calculus BC – Eric M. OstromMultivariable Calculus – Di MouAP Statistics – Meng-Chien WangErnest J. Lawton MemorialAward – Yun Woo HongRensselaer Mathematics and Science Award – YeonJoo LeeHonors Biology – Jeremy L. GilforAP Biology – Michaela A. RollingsHonors Chemistry – DongpingGuoAP Chemistry – Jessica A. DuncanHonors Physics 9 – Jacob M.RoyalAP Physics B – Zi Wei WanAP Physics C – Siyao ShenAP Environmental Science –Stephanie R. DuperreBausch & Lomb Science Award –Shuyi ZhangEdward F. Morris Prize – ShuyiZhangIntermediate Mandarin – SeaYoon ParkAdvanced Mandarin – Joshua L.KingIntermediate Latin – Priyanka T.GeorgeAdvanced Latin – Emma CamilleriIntermediate Spanish – TeresaKennedyAdvanced Spanish – Nicholas C.JalbertIntermediate French – Sarah E.GoolishianCatherine Ingraham Award forExcellence in French – Caitlin C.Charette

NewsBY CAITLIN CHARETTE ‘10Co-Editor in ChiefCancer is the ultimateequalizer. Unlike people, it doesnot discriminate by race, gender, orage, and it puts no merit in individual accomplishments, dreams, orpotential. It arbitrarily infects anddestroys the lives of thousands ofmothers, fathers, sisters, brothers,aunts, uncles,cousins,grandparents,friends, andteachers eachyear. Canceris the familiar antagonistin manytragic stories,and mostpeople havetheir ownstory to tell.OnApril 15thand 16th theWilbraham community hosted it’ssecond Relay for Life at the Wilbraham & Monson Academy toraise funds for the American Cancer Society. This year 825 members of both the Wilbraham andWMA communities gatheredon the WMAtrack to battle acommon enemy.This year’sparticipantsraised anincredible 85,000, whichrepresents a dramatic increaseover last year’s 62,000.Oneaspect of Relayis the Celebrate ceremony during which participants acknowledge and honorall those whohave battled andtriumphed overcancer. The ceremony featuresa lap of the trackby the survivorsencouraged bythe applause ofonlookers whosurround the track. Last year theWilbraham relay had the mostsurvivors of any new relay with 67,and this year surpassed that number with 85 gung-ho survivors.Amidst the celebration,Relay has a somber undertone; thereality is that for every survivor onsite there is at least one person who7How To Save a Lifewas taken by the disease present inthe hearts of the participants. TheRememberceremonyis meantto payhomage tothose whohave losttheir battlewith cancer.450 Luminariabags bought in honor of thosewho defeatedcancer andin memoryof those whodidn’t linedthe track oncedarkness fell.Stephanie Duperre ’10 sharedher original poem Candle, andMax Rankin ’12shared the heartbreaking storyof his mother’sbattle with cancer.The luminaries burnedthroughout the nightgiving faces and namesto the endless laps, andreminded cold, exhausted relayers whythey were there.The entertainment committee provided participants withplenty ofactivities tokeep themoccupiedwhen theyweren’twalkinglaps including bouncehouses,inflatable jousting, salsa danceclass, movies, face painting,and music. Relay featuredthree live bands and threevocal performances: PunchinLogic from across the Atlanticin England, 1220 a local banda little closer to home, WMA’sown John Lee ’12, YunHye Lee’10, Jessica Smith ’14, and members of theRockband,James Kwak‘12 , JimmySkiba ’10,ElisabethGuggi ’12,and Ry

Markell and Monson Class of 1898 Award/Owen David Dow Memorial Award – Ching Hoi Jefferson Lee Billy Lak Prize – Hannah K. Pieria Prize – Kathryn A. Sloan Dr. Joseph P. Cebula Memorial Award – Ayano Konakamura Berube Prize – William H. Bour-geois Class of 1977 Humanitari