Pelham News : student

Pelham High School French Honor Society serves up crepes for scholarship fund

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:23:00 GMT

Members of Pelham High School’s French Honor Society recently served a taste of French culture to their community.

The students hosted a crepes night in the school cafeteria on Tuesday, May 20, treating parents, fellow students,and others to crepes – a type of very thin, cooked pancake – with an assortment of fillings.

The society typically hosts a crepes night for the community twice a year. As their guests arrived for the recent event, recorded French music sounded in the air.

“You get to really feel the culture,” said junior Emily Koehler, 17, a society member. “(We) had the music going. You don’t find crepes here a lot.”

At the event’s start, French teacher Jennifer Turk invited Koehler and another student, Laurie Costa, to demonstrate to the audience how crepes are made. The two girls, along with another student, Amanda Andrews, had previously made about 220 crepes for the event.

“Come up, ladies. They are experts now and they love it,” Turk said.

The event sold 65 tickets at $4 each and drew 48 participants. Guests also took chances on winning a 50/50 raffle. Proceeds went to the society’s scholarship fund. Sitting at tables, the guests could fill their crepes with Nutella, a chocolate and hazelnut spread, along with whipped cream, honey, and strawberry and blackberry jams.

Barbara Gindi, one of the parents attending the event, enjoyed her crepes with Nutella and whipped cream. At home, she would have added strawberries.

“To me, that’s the way to go,” said Gindi, who earlier in the evening also demonstrated how crepes are made.

Two other students, Dawn Ely and Kellie Chadwick, had also previously made crepes for the event. Dawn’s mother, Becky Ely, enjoyed one serving with blackberry jam and whipped cream, and the other with Nutella. She usually comes to crepes night to show her support for the students’ efforts.

“Making crepes is a wicked lot of fun,” said Costa. “And it’s nice to see families bonding with each other, coming out and having fun.”

State’s best meet at UNH; some earn regionals

Salem Editor — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:26:00 GMT

BY SAPNA PATHAK

On Saturday, June 2, the state’s best track and field athletes converged upon the University of New Hampshire’s oval to compete in this year’s Meet of Champions.

The final results yielded strong finishes and secured spots in the New England High School Track and Field Championships at Fitchburg State in Fitchburg, Mass., for several Neighborhood athletes.

Salem High School

Junior Nicole Duarte represented the Lady Blue Devils, placing third in the discus with a throw of 104 feet, 9 inches.

For the boys, Michael Marshall took third in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet; Andrew Dickie placed fourth in the javelin with a toss of 163-01.

Pelham High School

Class I javelin champion Chris Fournier took 12th with a throw of 147-08.

Bishop Guertin High School

Pelham native Emily Standish earned herself a ticket to New Englands with a first-place finish in the high jump. The senior cleared a height of 5-4 as a member of Bishop Guertin’s track and field team.

Teens react to drug search

Salem Editor — Wed, 02 May 2007 17:07:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Angela Tsoumbanikas, 17, doesn’t mind that police bring drug-sniffing dogs through her school. Or that administrators search student lockers where the dogs indicate drugs might be found.

“They’re OK. I don’t think they do them enough,” said the Pelham High School sophomore. “Drugs aren’t my thing.”

Tsoumbanikas and the rest of the school’s students were evacuated from the building on Friday, April 20, the day before their spring vacation.

While they waited outside for about an hour, police officers led canines through the building in a search for narcotics.

Administrators opened and searched several areas, including hallway lockers, after dogs “hit” on them – pressing their paws against them, trying to get at something. No drugs were found.

Several cars were also “hit.” One girl was suspended for having cigarettes on her and in her car and for parking at school without a permit.

Marijuana was found in a car driven by a 16-year-old boy. A bottle of vodka was discovered in the car of a 17-year-old student.

Both boys received suspensions. Neither was formally charged by police, although the 16-year-old is being required to take a program known as the Challenger Course, an educational program for youth about substances and substance abuse.

The surprise drug searches are typically conducted once a year. The dogs do not search students, who are usually gathered in the gymnasium or directed to go outside.

Administrators do not need permission to search lockers, but they must get permission to search vehicles.

Several students acknowledge they know little about what administrators and police do when the searches are conducted. One student mistakenly assumed that all lockers are opened and searched.

Many of them, such as Corey Peterson, 15, a freshman, said they are not bothered by the searches.

“I don’t mind it,” said Corey, who said he watched through a window as police finished their work in the parking lot after students were allowed back into the building.

“It doesn’t bother me because I don’t do drugs,” said another first-year student, Cameron Robidoux, 15. “If they’re dumb enough to bring it in, that’s their problem.”

Krystyna Nelson, 17, a senior, said she thinks officials “overdo it.” She doesn’t like that administrators search cars.

“If you drive a car here, it’s yours,” she said.

Nelson believes the search was deliberately held on April 20 to coincide with the 420 Campaign, which seeks to pressure Congress to legalize marijuana. Officials have denied this.

Jared Lowell, 19, a senior, said it bothers him that officials feel they need to conduct searches in school. He thinks it reflects poorly on the school and he’d like to see it done after school when it would draw less attention.

Others fully embrace the idea of searches.

“I think it’s one of the best things the school does,” said Scott Cloutier, 16, a junior. “Not just for the kids who deal but for all the kids’ safety. I don’t want to be near it.”

Mike Crooker, 18, a junior, said he’s not surprised the searches are done. Many students use drugs and he’d like to see more searches done.

But the students with drugs are likely to have them on them rather than store them in their lockers, he said.

“If they’re going to search, they might as well search the kids,” he said. “It makes a lot more sense.”

Al-Qaida suspect has Pelham ties – Former Pelham High student charged with conspiring with terrorists

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:21:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

It’s been more than a decade since Dorothy Mohr taught Danny Maldonado in a freshman English class, but she recognized him on TV while watching the news.

Maldonado, 28, who is charged with receiving military training from the al-Qaida terrorist organization, used to reside in Pelham with his family and attended the town’s high school.

“He was just a unique individual, both for his manner of dress and his opinionated outlook,” said Mohr, who knew Maldonado in the mid-1990s.

He was the only student then, she recalled, who wore his hair in dreadlocks. He was also into pop culture and wore a big jacket.

Mohr, who is now the school’s principal, remembers that Maldonado voiced strong opinions, but she doesn’t remember any specifics about what he talked about.

“He had his own agenda. He certainly wasn’t the valedictorian of the class,” said Mohr.

Mohr doesn’t recall any major discipline problems with Maldonado who, she said, withdrew from the school in 1997.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado has been charged with conspiring to use a bomb outside of the United States and receiving military-type training from al-Qaida.

According to an affidavit filed in a federal court in Texas by a FBI special agent, Maldonado was allegedly trained by terrorists while living overseas.

The affidavit contains information that the agent said was provided by Maldonado when he was interviewed by the FBI and from a cooperating witness who knew of his activities.

The affidavit claims that Maldonado, a Muslim convert, moved from Boston to Houston, Texas, in August 2005, and later traveled to Cairo in 2005 and to Somalia the following year in search of a country where he could practice true Islam.

Maldonado reportedly told the FBI that while living in Egypt, he decided to go to Somalia to fight for Islam.

He had chosen to fight, he reportedly said, because he believed he was fighting for a legitimate Islamic government.

“Maldonado also stated that he had ‘no problem’ killing or fighting Americans because he was angry with America. He added that he had ‘no problem’ with the September 11, 2001 attacks,” the affidavit states.

In Somalia, Maldonado had been given an AK-47 assault rifle and a belt that is worn over the chest and holds clips for the gun, according to the FBI.

“Maldonado admitted participating in military training in Mogadishu,” the affidavit states. “He described a program that included weapons, explosives and physical fitness training. He was told that after he completed major physical training, and firearms training, he would be able to go to the ‘front line’ to fight, a desire which he had previously expressed.”

Along with other fighters, he was transported to Kismaayo, which is located in the southern part of Somalia and is considered a stronghold for al-Qaida operating in the country.

Maldonado reportedly told the FBI that while in Kismaayo he helped guard and interrogate a suspected spy because they both spoke English. He said he learned later the man had been killed.

In Kismaayo, Maldonado participated in physical training but did not go to the front line because he contracted malaria.

While in training camps, he reportedly was taught by a bomb maker who manufactured small explosive devices.

Maldonado admitted he would be willing to become a suicide bomber if he were wounded and could not fight, according to the affidavit.

When Ethiopian forces attacked, Maldonado and other fighters fled to Kenya. They took a boat and later walked in the woods for two to three days before being captured by Kenyan authorities.

Like Mohr, Pelham police Capt. Joseph Roark said that Maldonado was memorable for wearing his hair in dreadlocks.

The Maldonado family lived on Dutton Road, and their address was familiar to patrol officers, Roark said.

Officers visited the house in response to minor family disputes and routine calls for service, he said.

Maldonado was also stopped for motor vehicle offenses, Roark recalled.

“He was somewhat detached but respectful to police,” Roark said. “Not friendly, but cooperative."