Vanguard students recently experienced a tremendous loss. Prospect Highschool alumnus Matthew Svedman passed away January 31st at the age of 19. He was a son, a brother, and a friend. And a friend to many he was. Even to some students right here at Vanguard. I got the chance to speak to a few of them and they shared thoughts and had so much to say about their dear friend.
Matt was known for his honesty. According to his friends, he would often share his opinions and not hold anything back. He told a person exactly what he thought of them and had amazing judgment. Matt was the type of person who told it to you straight and is remembered by his friends as one of the realest persons they had ever come across. People remember Matt as a hard worker. There's no goal he couldn't reach. Stopping at nothing to get where he had to go and get what he needed. His friends say he was admired greatly at his job in a shoe store for his work ethic.
"I'll always remember him as being a hard worker. He always supported you. He was always a genuine friend and remained that way through thick and thin," said Miki Grabowski.
His humor is another trait his friends loved and is often the first thing everyone noticed about him. According to his friends, a typical day with Matt was always filled with nonstop laughter, making everyone crack a smile with his irony, sarcasm, and incredible wit. "If you were around Matt, you were always laughing no matter what," said Chris Kopec.
Matt's intellect was unmatched. It is the one thing everyone remembers the most about him. Whether he was talking about the music he loved, playing an instrument, having a heart to heart conversation with someone, philosophizing, he just always had something to say and knew so much. His brilliance spoke volumes.
"He’s one of those people you'll definitely miss when he's gone. He was acknowledged and appreciated when he was here but in his absence there's an unavoidable gap. It's so sad that the world will never fully witness Matt's intelligence. All we're left with is the memories and the ability to further appreciate the quality of our lives," said Emily Casey.
All of his friends I spoke with seemed completely in love with him. The impact he had on so many lives can never be measured. A wake was held February 6th and his funeral was the following day. Vanguard students went and gathered in his honor, they paid their respects and said goodbye to their dear friend. Matt was one of the most genuine, most insightful, and honest friends anyone could have and he will forever be loved and missed by those closest to him, said Grabowski.
"Life comes at you fast and you have to be prepared. I hope that when he's looking down at us he'll have some sort of sarcastic remark. I'll always miss him and those remarks," said Kopec.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What's all the racket?
Story and photos by Eli Martinez
What's all the racket at Vanguard these days? It would appear to be table tennis.
Six years ago, our own resident PE and health teacher who's been at Vanguard for seven years, Mr. Tedd Markos built two homemade ping pong tables out of plywood and pretty soon students began to play during lunch and whenever they had free time. And before you know it, the ping pong club and the Golden Paddle Tournament was born, and it is still in full swing. Today, the Golden Paddle Tournament is in its sixth year with a record-breaking 29 contestants and a new champion will emerge this month.
"IT'S FANTASTIC,” said, A.J. Bays, a strong and fierce competitor, and quite possibly the first female champion regarding the craze.
Over the years at Vanguard ping pong became more and more popular and the number of students who played greatly increased. It then was obvious that we needed more tables. After six years of using the same tables much change was much needed.
Mr. Markos, being the avid ping pong fan he is, joined a ping pong league this year and pretty soon his league became sponsored by the company Killerspin, one of the largest ping pong equipment, clothing, and accessories distributors in the world, whose products can be found in 14 different continents. So you can guess what happened next. Killerspin now sponsors Vanguard's table tennis club.
"I'm extremely psyched, it sounds like Markos is very passionate about the sport of ping pong and its involvement at Vanguard. I am very thankful that Markos puts in a lot of time and effort into Vanguard's very local ping pong club," said Thad Struggles, reigning golden paddle champion.
Mr. Markos wrote a killer letter to Killerspin informing them of our growing ping pong culture. He then came in touch with the programs and product development director; Rajeev Sharma and through a stroke of luck he agreed to sponsor our club, give us free equipment, and he also plans to send in professional players to visit the school.
"It's going be sweet, we're going to have fun and I'm going to beat Thad," said Kenzo Yoshimura, a fearless competitor who's in it to win it.
We received new tables courtesy of the company and they will be put to good use in our golden paddle tournament, which began January 25.
"It's super cool, props to Mr. Markos. This the most dedicated, competitive, and fun year of ping pong I've been involved in, " said Mr. Impastato, music/ping pong club emperor.
_______________________
At the time of publication, AJ Bays, Angie Mazanova, Pete Miller, Chris Kopec, Yoshimura are contenders to win, according to Mr. Markos. Thad Struggles plans to return for an exhibition game against the winner since he graduated last month. The teacher bracket favorite at this time is Mr. Kain.
What's all the racket at Vanguard these days? It would appear to be table tennis.
Six years ago, our own resident PE and health teacher who's been at Vanguard for seven years, Mr. Tedd Markos built two homemade ping pong tables out of plywood and pretty soon students began to play during lunch and whenever they had free time. And before you know it, the ping pong club and the Golden Paddle Tournament was born, and it is still in full swing. Today, the Golden Paddle Tournament is in its sixth year with a record-breaking 29 contestants and a new champion will emerge this month.
"IT'S FANTASTIC,” said, A.J. Bays, a strong and fierce competitor, and quite possibly the first female champion regarding the craze.
Over the years at Vanguard ping pong became more and more popular and the number of students who played greatly increased. It then was obvious that we needed more tables. After six years of using the same tables much change was much needed.
Mr. Markos, being the avid ping pong fan he is, joined a ping pong league this year and pretty soon his league became sponsored by the company Killerspin, one of the largest ping pong equipment, clothing, and accessories distributors in the world, whose products can be found in 14 different continents. So you can guess what happened next. Killerspin now sponsors Vanguard's table tennis club.
"I'm extremely psyched, it sounds like Markos is very passionate about the sport of ping pong and its involvement at Vanguard. I am very thankful that Markos puts in a lot of time and effort into Vanguard's very local ping pong club," said Thad Struggles, reigning golden paddle champion.
Mr. Markos wrote a killer letter to Killerspin informing them of our growing ping pong culture. He then came in touch with the programs and product development director; Rajeev Sharma and through a stroke of luck he agreed to sponsor our club, give us free equipment, and he also plans to send in professional players to visit the school.
"It's going be sweet, we're going to have fun and I'm going to beat Thad," said Kenzo Yoshimura, a fearless competitor who's in it to win it.
We received new tables courtesy of the company and they will be put to good use in our golden paddle tournament, which began January 25.
"It's super cool, props to Mr. Markos. This the most dedicated, competitive, and fun year of ping pong I've been involved in, " said Mr. Impastato, music/ping pong club emperor.
_______________________
At the time of publication, AJ Bays, Angie Mazanova, Pete Miller, Chris Kopec, Yoshimura are contenders to win, according to Mr. Markos. Thad Struggles plans to return for an exhibition game against the winner since he graduated last month. The teacher bracket favorite at this time is Mr. Kain.
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