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Latest News
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The PhoenixOnline is the school newspaper, published by the students of Kellenberg Memorial High School. Articles are posted throughout the school week to PhoenixOnline at kellenberg.org/phoenix. PhoenixOnline covers various Faith, Academic, Extra-Curricular, and Athletic stories and features at Kellenberg Memorial. PhoenixOnline staff contribute to the school journalism publication by conceiving stories, attending school events, conducting interviews, and writing and editing articles. Membership on the PhoenixOnline staff is open to all students in grades 6 through 12. Editorship positions are available by application.
PhoenixOnline Surveys
Throughout the year, we run open surveys polling our student body on some general interest topics.
PhoenixOnline Video Segments
Athletics News

Boy’s Varsity Basketball Team Defeats St. Anthony’s
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: On January 5th, the boy’s Varsity basketball team opened up league play in convincing fashion with a 61-47 win over Saint Anthonys. Junior Stephen Kiernan led the team with 25 points, scoring 14 in the 4th quarter. Juniors Jordan Leach and Brenden Gharagozlo

Boy’s Winter Track Dominates St. Anthony’s Tracks
Article by Phoenix writer Caitlin Hanratty ’25: Over the Christmas break, the boys track and field team tore up the Armory and St. Anthony’s tracks with amazing performances. At the Christmas Classic, Daniel Carsey and Kevin O’Keefe took home gold and bronze medals respectively in the 55 meter hurdles. Evans

Kellenberg’s Varsity Hockey Team Celebrates Ambitious Win Against Xaverian
Article by Phoenix writers Caitlin Hanratty ’25 & Paulina Barnjak ’24: Kellenberg Varsity Hockey won against Xaverian by a score of 6-4 on Monday, December 4th. The boys went down early in the first period, giving up 3 goals. However, the second period was dominated by the Firebirds, coming back

Coach Conrade Inducted into the Coaching HOF
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: Kellenberg Memorials’ very own Mr. Kenneth Conrade has been inducted into the CHSAA Coaching Hall of Fame. Mr. Conrade has been coaching the Girls Varsity Softball team for 32 years, and has been head coach for 30. He has since then brought the
Activities News

Speech and Debate Takes on the State
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: Kellenberg’s esteemed Speech and Debate Team qualified three members for the New York State Forensic League State Tournament, held at the Bronx High School of Science. The tournament was held over the course of two days, Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13.

Ryan Greenberg Talks EMS with Students
Article by Phoenix writer Cassandra Odudukudu ’24: After months of anticipation, New York State EMS Director Ryan Greenberg spoke to students interested in the field of emergency medicine on Wednesday, April 17 in the chorus room. His presentation focused on his own experiences in the field, the future of EMS,

Captain Mike Riley Speaks to Aviation Club
Article by Phoenix writer Griffin Strauss ’25: On April 17, the Aviation Club had the privilege of listening to speaker Captain Mike Riley, a former pilot in the U.S. Marines and a current pilot for United Airlines. Around 20 eager aviation club members learned about the business of flying in

Dr. Maidhof Gives Talk on the Pharmaceutical Field
Article by Phoenix writer Caitlin Hanratty ’25: St. John’s University professor Dr. Maidhof came to Kellenberg on April 10 to talk about his career in pharmaceuticals. Maidhof gave a preview of what life working in pharmacy looks like and talked about the different kinds of career paths someone in the
Apostolic News

Family XLT Serves As A Reminder of Hope
Article by Phoenix writer Grace Andino ’25: To begin the Lenten Season, Kellenberg’s ARK hosted Family XLT on Ash Wednesday, March 25. Unlike the other XLTs offered throughout the school year, the annual Family XLT (exalt, praise, and worship) gives students and their families a spiritual opportunity that transcends the

St. Joseph’s Mission Inspires A Spirit of Service
Article by Phoenix writer Olivia Iorio ’25: During the week of February break, fourteen Kellenberg students demonstrated their Marianist commitment to service when they helped improve the Stella Maris retreat house and the motherhouse of the Sisters of Life in Montebello, New York. St. Joseph’s Mission has been going strong

Kellenberg Prepares for the Lenten Season
Article by Phoenix writer Ryleigh O’Neill ’28: Last Wednesday, Kellenberg celebrated the start of the Lenten season with an Ash Wednesday prayer service held in the auditorium. Ashes taken from last year’s palms were placed in the shape of a cross on the foreheads of all the students and faculty

Fathers and Sons Bond at St. Joseph’s Night
Article by Phoenix writer Sophia Venturino ’26: Every year, Kellenberg Memorial hosts St. Joseph’s Night, an evening of fun and prayer for Kellenberg gentlemen and their fathers or father figures. The night consists of quality time such as sharing a meal and time spent in prayer. The purpose of this
Last Week at Mass

Last Week at Mass: A Russian Orthodox Girl at Liturgy
Article by Phoenix writer Victoria Vakser ’26: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages!” With these words the lights came on, the choir sang a majestic “Amen,” and the Orthodox Divine Liturgy began. March

Last Week At Mass: Faith from a Child’s Eyes – St. Patrick’s Glen Cove
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: On the first Sunday of March, I found myself everywhere but with God. I was organizing arrangements for the Senior Trip, stressing over college admission decisions I hadn’t even received yet, and any other thing that was on my mind. I piled clothes

LWAM: The Opportunity of a Lifetime
Article by Phoenix writer Grace Andino ’25: “Are you interested in becoming a Eucharistic Minister?” The bolded letters on the front of St. Thomas the Apostle’s Church bulletin made my heart jump. Though an 8-year-old me who received her Sacraments of Initiation and altar served for St. Thomas would have

LWAM: Trusting What I Can’t Change
Article by Phoenix writer Brooke Oldenborg ’26: On Sunday, November 17, I decided to end my weekend with my home parish’s evening mass. This is the first mass I’ve attended fully in a while. As the priest started talking, it seemed like a normal mass, but as he continued it
But What Do I Know?

But What Do I Know: The Musings of a Margin Scribbler
Article by Phoenix writer Paulina Barnjak ’24: Many students dread summer reading, especially when they have to annotate and highlight in the books. But let me tell you a secret – I LOVE writing in the margins of books. Some people may view this as a destruction of property or a waste of time. If they see an annotated book on the shelf or a hand me down book from a relative, they might choose a neater, nicer book to read. The annotations might get in the way of your perception of the book. But in my eyes, that’s good – a new perspective is great, sometimes even life changing. Billy Collins writes about these annotations in his poem, “Marginalia.” I can picture myself as the people within the lines of this poem, especially in the following excerpt: “One scrawls ‘Metaphor’ next to a stanza of Eliot’s. Another notes the

But What Do I Know: Vinyl is Final
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: Photo by Ryan Arnst on Unsplash Listening to music has always been a favorite pastime of mine where I can express myself. Many people share this hobby with me. In recent years, cultivating playlists or mixtapes has become very popular. Personally, my Spotify account has close to one hundred playlists with songs spanning countless genres and time periods. As much as I love being able to access my favorite songs at the click of a button, something about listening to an album on a vinyl record cannot be topped by digital listening. One reason I prefer records over a playlist is the storytelling aspect of an album. While this may not be true for all albums, some of them, such as David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” are meant to be listened to as a

But What Do I Know: CheatGPT Is Cheating Humanity
Article by Phoenix writer Griffin Strauss ’25: In our rapidly changing world, technology often outpaces our ability to adapt or even transform. This is profoundly evident in the case of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that has recently taken over the world of writing. It enables people to cheat the system and create new works of writing with minimal input. The dangers of this are great, and yet we continue to misuse it. ChatGPT presents a plethora of issues for writers, foremost is the question of authenticity. Writers of all walks of life from academics to employees can use the software of ChatGPT to formulate reports and essays easier than ever. They simply tell ChatGPT what they want to accomplish and it executes it in minutes. When utilizing ChatGPT, the user is tapping into a database teeming with information that the user has never known. If the use of ChatGPT becomes

But What Do I Know: Crush the Evil Social Media
Article by Phoenix writer Cristina Palmieri ’25: Voltaire said “Crush the evil thing.” It sounds cooler in French, but I don’t know French. Voltaire wickedly ridiculed all of the corruptions and evils of his time. No doubt, social media would be on his radar if he lived today. Since its beginnings, social media has ingrained itself into society. There has been a lasting obsession with constantly posting updates about our lives on some sort of platform, whether it be a relationship status on Facebook or a picture of your last vacation on Instagram. However, there has been a decline in this obsession. With Twitter on a fast decline and TikTok’s existence being in jeopardy, there has been a rising conversation about social media’s impact on society within the last ten years. While some might mourn the loss of their favorite apps, I will honestly be relieved with social media’s downfall.
Academics News

Academic Achievement Recognized At Annual Awards Assembly
Article by Phoenix writer Keira Quigley ’26: On Tuesday, October 24th, sophomores, juniors, and seniors with outstanding academic achievements were honored at the annual Academic Awards Assembly. This assembly included students receiving pins for being on the Honor Roll, badges for having perfect attendance, and inducting new students into the

Students Shine In Advanced Labs Program
Article by Phoenix writer Michelle Paszek ’24: The Advanced Labs Program is an after-school STEM group at Kellenberg where any high schooler in grades 9-12 can join in on college level labs that prepare them for what they will experience in college. “It made me appreciate science and all that
Firebird Crosswords
The Renaissance
An important extra facet of the academic life at Kellenberg Memorial is the literary magazine, Renaissance. Published twice a year in Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer issues, it contains the creative writings and artistic talents of students from grades six through twelve.
The creative voice heard in the poems, short stories, essays, and art is often unheard in the day-to-day work within the classroom.
The Renaissance, Poetry: “Death isn’t Soft, Oscar” by Erin O’Connor ‘25
I’ve heard that Death is soft so that when we hold it, it does not callous our hands. But when I play the guitar you

The Renaissance, Photography: “Soft Glowing Lamp” by Sophia Santag ’27
“Soft Glowing Lamp” by Sophia Santag ’27

The Renaissance, Art: “Memory of a Boat Trip” by Lauren Reyes ’26
“Memory of a Boat Trip” by Lauren Reyes, ’26
The Renaissance (Poem) “In response to ‘Woman! when I behold thee flippant, vain'” by Victoria Vakser ’26
Good sir! When I behold thee proud and tall, Full of thyself, commanding, seeking praise, Withholding all advance, all kindly phrase, Thy sullen mouth

The Renaissance: Artwork: “Overgrown” by Rosann Passalacqua
“Overgrown” by Rosann Passalacqua An impressionist painting of the memory of my grandparents’ backyard garden.
The Renaissance: Poetry: “A Glimpse of 2013” by Danielle Kercy
“A Glimpse of 2013” by Danielle Kercy Winner of The Renaissance Challenge: “Memory” The specific scent of sanitizer stings my nose, and I am only