Squashing the Competition
The annual advisory pumpkin contest produced four winners this year in a very compelling contest.
Mrs. Ponchock’s advisees created this amazing Yoda which tied for first place in the sixth-grade competition.
Yoda, a gumball machine, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man were all winners in the Middle School annual pumpkin contest this year. However, picking the winner for each grade level this year was not as easy as (pumpkin) pie.
Mr. Crisafi’s advisees covered their pumpkin with hundreds of tiny marshmallows to make it resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
“We had a very hard time choosing the winners,” said Library/Media Specialist Mrs. Susan Duncan. Duncan was joined in her judging duties by Middle School Technology Support Technician Mr. Matthew Morrow and Lower School Dean of Students Mr. Lee Peterson. Student Services Coordinator Ms. Danielle Benvenuto, who oversees the advisory competition, selects a few neutral parties to judge the annual competition (individuals who are usually TBS staff members or former faculty members). “We really looked for creativity and originality. For the sixth grade, we just could not choose between the yoda pumpkin and the Stay Puft pumpkin,” added Duncan.
As a result, there was a tie between the sixth-grade advisory pumpkins created by Mr. Nicholas Crisafi’s advisees and the one created by Mrs. Denise Ponchock’s students. Crisafi’s group made theirs into the giant villain from the movie Ghostbusters while Ponchock’s advisory turned their pumpkin on its side to make the sagacious Jedi master from Star Wars.
The pumpkin Mr. Harbeck’s students used is beneath the felt balls at the top of the gumball machine (we think).
For the seventh grade, Mr. Toby Harbeck’s advisory won by making its pumpkin into gumball machine and for the eighth grade, Mrs. Piper Crisafi’s and Mrs. Catherine Broadhead’s advisory won as they fashioned a pumpkin into Mrs. Rudner’s newborn baby, Evelyn. For that one, the students made their pumpkin look like a sleeping baby (via a pacifier and stick-on eyes) complete with a bassinet and mobile featuring pictures of middle school teachers and administrators: Mr. Goldberg, Ms. Benvenuto, Mr. Hagy, and Mrs. Rudner.
All of the winning advisories received cake cookies from Ms. Benvenuto as a reward. “It was
The students of Mrs. Crisafi’s and Ms. Broadhead’s advisory made their pumpkin into baby Evelyn Rudner.
my first year at middle school, so it was awesome to win in my first year,” said sixth grader Jakob Kroll, a member of Mr. Crisafi’s advisory. “I liked the contest a lot and it was really fun.”
Mr. Harbeck got a little more extreme. He took his whole advisory to McDonald’s for lunch during the long advisory period on Wednesday. “It was so cool to go to McDonald’s during a school day because it is something you wouldn’t normally do at school,” said seventh grader Lauren Papa. “I got lots of fries and a Mcflurry, and it was delicious.”
