Ms. Sally Saldutti

with fellow

members of the

Guidance

Department: Ms.

Karen Staller, Ms.

Stephanie Paz and

Mr. Adam

Labriola in

October 2009.

By Karen Staller and Stephanie Paz

Sally Saldutti-Strain was one special lady. She wasn’t just a colleague to some of us in the Guidance Office, she was family as well. Sally had a way about her that each and every one of us

felt cared for, and connected to her.

Sally had a zest for life that was contagious. She was grateful for all that she had – her fam-ily, her friends, her husband, her puppy and Lawrence HS. Lawrence wasn’t just a place of work, it

was her second home, and she treated it as such.

Sally always made sure the office was tidy and decorated for the holidays. As soon as mid-January hit, we knew we’d find the office plastered with hearts for Valentine’s Day. She also made

sure music was playing and windows or blinds were open so that the office felt like a warm and wel-

coming place.

She was our secretary, our office mom and gatekeeper (especially with the refrigerator!). We joked with her about being the refrigerator police. You wouldn’t want to be caught with expired

milk and have Sally catch you!

Sally may have come across as the office bulldog (especially if a visitor tried to park in a guidance counselor’s or guidance secretary’s

parking space) but she had the heart of a kindergarten teacher.

She loved Lawrence HS, the Guidance Office and all the people that came past her desk office each and every day. We would often catch

Sally reaching into her bag to give a student a dollar for a candy bar, or a

cab.

Sally also LOVED school gossip! She was the first one to report what was happening in the main office or who got engaged over the

weekend. Sally was our source of all information Lawrence and she loved

being the one to disseminate the news.

This place is just not the same without Sally. She left a strong,

lasting and loving impression on each and every one of us. We loved Sally very deeply and miss her very much. Feel free to stop by the Guid-

ance Office and check out Sally’s wall of fame.

Sally loved to collect pictures of Lawrence family and friends and keep them posted right above her desk. We are not sure if we will do

the wall justice but we are certainly doing our best in Sally’s honor. Un-

fortunately, we are not doing as well with the refrigerator.

With love and dedication to our Sally, Karen Staller and Stephanie Paz

Sally Saldutti photo

gallery, page 2

AP test results, page 3

Mrs. Leifer retires, page 3

Volume 78, �umber 1

September 2010

In Memory of Sally Saldutti,

a True Lawrencian

Ms. Sally Saldutti (far right) celebrating

with the members of the Guidance

Department.

Inside this issue:

Photo Gallery and Recollections of Sally Saldutti

Page 2 September 2010

I have known Sally for such a long time. I

remember her fondly from my first years at

LHS when we had an attendance dean. She

was one of the secretaries in the office. It is

such a loss for our LHS family. She truly

loved the kids and the school community. I'll

miss her.

-Jeannine Cammarata

To my sister:

What can I say. She was the best sister

anyone could ask for. She was a good caring

person. Always loved helping the students in

school. She was a second mom to my kids and

they loved her very much. My sister loved life

and her family. And now she is gone to a better

place with no more pain. She will be missed very

much.

Love, your sister, Theresa Philippou

I loved coming to work and finding little notes

on my desk from Sally. In fact, I still have one

here that says, “Have a great trip little one, love

you, xo”

– Karen Staller

Sally’s Lawrence High School

prom pictures with date and fu-

ture husband, Michael Strain.

Sally posing with fellow

secretary Ms.

Maureen Fierman.

Sally posing

with Mr. Adam

Labriola and

Ms. Laurie

Barry.

*2009 is the last year for which National Passing Percentages are currently available.

Subject �umber

of

Exams

LHS

Passing

Percentile

2009 �ational

Average Pass-

ing Percen-

tile*

Calculus AB 12 100% 59.5%

Calculus BC 10 100% 80%

Chemistry 11 100% 56.1%

Statistics 10 100% 58.8%

Studio Art: Drawing

Portfolio

1 100% 69.2%

European History 35 97% 67%

Macroeconomics 31 97% 56.7%

English Literature and

Composition

22 91% 58.6%

Art History 30 80% 57%

United States History 60 78% 52.5%

United States Govern-

ment and Politics

25 75% 50.5%

Physics B 21 67% 60.8%

Studio Art: 2-D Design

Portfolio

3 67% 61.9%

Highest Scoring AP Exams at

Lawrence High School 2010

remain the second-best team in the

conference, if not the first, and

Atlanta will have to settle for a

wild card.

The NFC West is the worst

division in football, and it ranks

among the worst in sports history.

I don’t think any of these teams

would win more than six games if

they played in a different division,

but since they play each other six

times a year, they each have a shot.

The preseason favorite to

win the division was the 49ers,

who have talent on their roster, but

are quarterbacked by Alex

“turnover” Smith, and backuped by

David Carr, he of the record for

most times sacked in a season, and

their wide receiving corps consists

(Continued from page 4)

Editor-in-Chief

Jimmy Schuster

Associate Editor

Eli Powell

Assistant Editors

Jordana Balsam

Mariam Rasheed

Staff Members

Brittany Beyer

Pamela Davis

Samantha Dunn

David Farooqi

George Hartoularos

Kaynat Khalid

Jeffrey Schwartz

Michael Somer

Taylor Stone

Kiran Tariq

James Schneider

Faculty Advisor

John �ici

of the unproven Michael Crabtree

and little else, leaving Frank Gore

and Brian Westbrook’s remains to

carry the offensive burden. In

week 1, the 49ers were destroyed

by the Seahawks, who were in turn

destroyed by Denver in Week 2.

Arizona and St. Louis played each

other in Week 1, which was won

by Arizona, but then Arizona

couldn’t stay on the field with At-

lanta. At this point any catalyst

could determine this playoff spot,

and, for the sake of the quality of

the NFL playoffs, hopefully it will

involve a San Francisco quarter-

back emerging.

�FC playoff picks: 1. Green Bay,

2. �ew Orleans, 3. Philadelphia,

4. San Francisco, 5. Atlanta, 6.

Chicago

�FL Preview

Page 3 September 2010

By Jordana Balsam

Everyone knows not to dis-

tract friends from their studies dur-ing the first two weeks of May, as

that is when the dreaded Advanced Placement exams are. Some stu-

dents choose to take AP classes hoping to be exempt from taking college course, others choose the

course because they want a chal-lenge and want to prove their

smarts. Some just join because all

their friends will be in the class.

Regardless of the reasons, everyone in AP has to take the

exam. Everyone crams and has late night study sessions, hoping that

the last minute facts they memo-rize will be the key to getting a good score on the exam, and from

the scores Lawrence students achieved this year, those study ses-

sions paid off well.

Out of the 362 May 2010 AP exams given, 20% earned 5’s,

30% earned 4’s, and 26% earned 3’s. These scores increased dra-matically compared to the national

rate.

AP Exam Results Are Revealed….and They Are Not Bad!!

The class that achieved

the most 5’s was the Calculus BC class. All students in that

class earned 5’s. However, the nineteen AP classes offered at Lawrence last year all wielded

good scores, much to the hap-piness of the teachers whose

hard work helped their student achieve said scores. Congratu-lations to all students who

achieved high scores!

Au Revoir, Dr. Laifer By Jordana Balsam

This year, Lawrence High School’s beloved French teacher,

Dr. Myriam Laifer, will be retir-ing. Born in Paris, France, Dr. Laifer moved to America when she

was in college. She finished her education at Queens College and

the Graduate Center in Manhattan. Dr. Laifer has taught all of the French classes at Lawrence

since she arrived.

Mental Pah: When did you move to America?

Dr. Laifer: When I was in college. Mental Pab: Why did you become

a teacher? Dr. Laifer: I love sharing my

knowledge of the French language and culture to others.

Mental Pab: How long have you taught at Lawrence?

Dr. Laifer: I have taught ten years at Lawrence.

Mental Pab: What was your fa-vorite part about working in Law-

rence? Dr. Laifer: I enjoy being around young people and seeing them ma-

turing and getting into college.

Mental Pab: What will you miss most at Lawrence? Dr. Laifer: I will most miss being

a member of a great community.

Mental Pab: What are your future plans after leaving Lawrence?

Dr. Laifer: I want to work in a hospital helping Haitian people communicate with their doctors

and travel the world!

Dr. Laifer, your presence will be sorely missed at Lawrence.

Every year before the start of

the NFL season, it seems like everyone

takes an interest in predicting the season

before it happens. We play fantasy foot-

ball, join “pick ‘em leagues,” and obsess

over any minor detail reported on

Sportscenter.

It seems like there are thou-

sands of previews available about which

player is going to have a breakout sea-

son, which team is finally going to

emerge, and which team just isn’t going

to be any good this year.

Every football fan cares, and

every football fan argues for their team,

and tries to contest the reasoning of

those critical. So what changed in two

weeks?

In the AFC East we discovered

that the Jets’ offense isn’t as good as we

thought, as Shonn Green can’t be a pre-

mier back, Ladanian Tomlinson is little

more than a ghost at this point, and Mark

Sanchez still isn’t to-

tally developed, which

led to a few frustrating

offensive performances.

M e a n w h i l e ,

shutdown corner Dar-

relle Revis has a

strained hamstring

which may keep him

from being fully effec-

tive, or even from play-

ing, against Brandon

Marshall and the 2-0

Dolphins.

The Dolphins,

who are coming off a

tough win against Min-

nesota, look like the

team to beat in the

East, as Marshall has

found a new strong-

armed Quarterback to play with in Chad

Henne, and the running-back duo of

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams ap-

pears to be as solid as ever.

With New England seemingly

struggling without a real rushing pres-

ence on either side of the ball, we will

find out even more about this division in

the next two weeks as Miami has match-

ups with both the Patriots and New

York.

In the last two weeks, Pitts-

burgh has asserted their dominance of

the AFC North, grabbing two wins while

playing with their third and fourth-string

quarterbacks against teams expected to

contend this year, while the other three

teams in the division all looked meek

offensively.

Last year, the Bengals swept

the Troy Polamalu-less Steelers on their

way to winning the division. This year, it

doesn’t look like any team is in position

to go through Pittsburgh, who now will

get Ben Roethlisberger back from sus-

pension two weeks earlier than originally

thought.

The AFC South is the most

underrated division in the league this

year, with all four teams able to score in

bunches, and possessing seemingly capa-

ble defenses.

In week 1, Arian Foster came

out and had the best performance so far

this season while beating the Colts

somewhat easily. Then in Week 2, in

what may turn out to be the game of the

year, Matt Schaub duked it out with

Donovan McNabb, and threw for well

over 400 yards and got the win in over-

time.

Also in Week 2, Peyton Man-

ning led the Colts to a complete annihila-

tion of the New

York Giants, show-

ing that they are

perfectly able to

take the division.

These teams meet

again on Monday

Night Football No-

vember 1st, in Indi-

anapolis, the first of

the remaining five

division games for

the Texans, which

all take place in

November or De-

cember.

M e a n -

while, if Tennessee

or Jacksonville gets

its quarterback is-

sues straightened

out, either could

take a playoff spot if Houston, or even

Indianapolis stumbles.

The Kansas City Chiefs made a

statement by beating the Chargers, and

holding them to 14 points on the game.

The Chiefs then took care of business in

Week 2, beating the lowly Browns,

while the Chargers’ running back of the

future, Ryan Matthews, injured his ankle

in Week 2. Philip Rivers and the Charg-

ers look vulnerable as Rivers’ adjusts to

life without Tomlinson, Vincent Jack-

son, and Pro Bowl tackle Marcus

McNeill and Kansas City’s easy sched-

ule could result in a playoff push.

AFC playoff picks: 1. Pittsburgh, 2.

Indianapolis, 3. Miami, 4. Kansas City,

5. �ew York, 6. Jacksonville

In the NFC East, little-to-

nothing was resolved in the first two

weeks. New York established that they

are going to remain as inconsistent as

ever, with very differing performances in

their two games. Dallas has remained

competitive in two losses, but has strug-

gled offensively, as Marion Barber and

Felix Jones have essentially disappeared.

Even with maybe the most dif-

ficult schedule in recent NFL history, the

Cowboys still have the talent to be com-

petitive in the East. Philadelphia has

seen the reemergence of Michael Vick,

but as the so-far ineffective Kevin Kolb

has been named

the starter, Michael

Vick will be forced

back to the part-

time role he strug-

gled in last year,

while a quarter-

back controversy

will surround the

team all season.

In Wash-

ington, the Red-

skins had two

gutsy perform-

ances against con-

tending teams,

beating Dallas, and

battling Houston to

overtime, proving

they can play

with the other

teams in this divi-

sion.

The Ea-

gles are probably in the best position to

win of these four, but none the other

three will prove very tough opponents.

In the NFC

North, the Vikings

are going to need to

step it up. They’re

averaging less than

ten points a game,

and after they play

Detroit, they play

the Jets, the Cow-

boys, at Green Bay,

and at New Eng-

land, and have lost

two close games to

good teams in Mi-

ami and New Or-

leans.

I f t h e y

don’t they will find

themselves going

from the NFC Championship to the cel-

lar of the NFC North, which features

possibly the best team in the conference,

and two finally emerging teams in Chi-

cago and Detroit, who aren’t easy victo-

ries anymore after the rise of Jay Cutler

and Jahvid Best.

�FL Early Playoff Picks The other three teams are

looking to improve, and although the

playoffs might be out of reach for

Detroit, they are substantially better

than they were the last two years.

Although Tampa Bay has

started out hot, this division is still

for the Saints and Falcons, as the

Falcons proved by beating Arizona

by 34 points. The weakness in New

Orleans is still the run defense, and

evidence points that the New Or-

leans’ offense won’t repeat the kind

of production they relied on last year,

due to an almost certain decrease in

production from Pierre Thomas, and

if things start to fall apart, the Fal-

cons could steal the division, and if

Jimmy Clausen can turn things

around, Carolina has the talent to

challenge. Still though, the Saints

(Continued on page 3)

Darelle Revis in action. �ow, with a

strained hamstring, the Jets face great

difficulty.

Ben Roethlisberger, who is coming

back from suspension two weeks ear-

lier than expected to carry Pittsburgh.

Peyton Manning, the man

responsible for the Colts'

victory over the Giants,

lines up for a pass.

Page 4 September 2010