Learn to Hip Hop

Here's a great opportunity for current Cab students brought to you by former Cab students! Jessica Petrucelli and Amanda Bennett are offering to teach hip-hop in five easy lessons, beginning May 11. If you're interested, fill out the registration form and return to Dean Rumschlag with your payment ($7 per session, or $25 for the entire series--a bargain!). First come, first served!

Hispanic Student Recognition Program

Andrew Zaldivar and AJ Melendez were recognized at the 24th Annual Hispanic Student Recognition Ceremony on Saturday, April 25th at Dover Downs.

Andrew Zaldivar was named Delaware's outstanding Outstanding Hispanic Student of the Year at the high school level. Zaldivar is currently a junior at Cab Calloway High School, where he maintains a current GPA of 4.421. Described as a “natural leader and the best his generation has to offer” this young man excels in everything he does, has already been recruited by top universities (including Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania) for his excellence in academics and football. Aside from his success in the classroom, which includes maintaining A’s in several AP and Honors courses, he has lettered in football, lacrosse and wrestling. A member of the Blue Hen 1st Team All-conference for football, he has placed first in the 189 lb weight class at the Blue Hen Conference Wrestling Tournament, is captain of the football and lacrosse teams and serves as Student Body Vice-President. In addition to his academic and athletic awards, he has also been recognized for his work in cinematography and is an active volunteer in his community.

A. J. Melendez won the Athletics Award for New Castle County, and received honorable mention in the category of Arts for New Castle County. Melendez is currently a senior at Cab Calloway School of the Arts and has a currently holds a 3.75 GPA. For the past 7 years, he has been a voice major and has performed in many musicals such as “Les Miserables” and “West Side Story.” He even won third place out of thousands of vocalists on the nationally televised program “American Idol Juniors” in 2003! This year’s Honorable Mention recipient is also very involved in academics and sports, runs track and field and plays for the varsity football team. When he’s not busy with school and sports, he volunteers as the head coach of a powder puff football team and serves as a mentor at the West Center City Childcare Center. His peers have recognized him for the Outstanding Hispanic Achievement Award, saying they are “consistently impressed by his dedication and commitment to becoming the best that he can be,” and describe him as “a well-rounded young man who has certainly proven himself as a scholar, an artist, an athlete and a wonderful human being.” He will also be the first of four siblings to go on to college, and plans to major in business or sports management this fall.

The Hispanic Student Recognition Program (HSRP) is hosted by the Latin American Community Center, Inc. (LACC). This special event recognizes and acknowledges high achieving Hispanic Delaware students in academics, sports, school-community service, science-technology and the arts.
All nominees who attend the ceremony are presented with a commemorative medal and category winners are also recognized. Only two high school and two middle school students (female and male) are selected as Outstanding Hispanic Student of the Year. These students must excel in all categories to receive cash prizes, trophies, and medals.

Girls' State nominees

This year’s nominees for Girls’ State from Cab include juniors Mariah Matthews, Ashley McNeill, Elaine Liu and Dana Steele. They will spend the week of June 21-27 at Wesley College in Dover studying local, county and state government processes by setting up miniature governments. Congratulations to

Zaldivar, Cole bound for Summer Seminars

Two Cab students are among a select group of men and women from around the nation and world to attend U. S. military Summer Seminars this summer. Summer Seminars are fast-paced six-day experiences at each of the military academies for high achievers who have completed their junior year in high school and are considering applying for admission to that academy after graduation.


Andrew Zaldivar and Marilyn Cole, both Cab juniors, will participate in the U. S. Naval Academy Summer Seminar program. In addition, Cole will participate in the Air Force Academy Summer Seminar program.


Summer Seminars teach prospective applicants about life at the academy, where academics, athletics and professional training play equally important roles in developing our nation's leaders. Zaldivar and Cole will live in a campus dormitory, eat in the dining hall, participate in academic and leadership workshops and experience a variety of other activities on campus.
Zaldivar plans a career in aerospace engineering, and Cole wants to be a pilot.

Afroflow visits Cab

Afroflow, a performance group featuring hip-hop, spoken word, free style, soul music, African drumming and interactive dancing, visited Cab Calloway this afternoon. They performed in the black box theatre for Mr. Masiello's sixth grade and creative writing students.

Afroflow appears this Saturday at the Christina Cultural Arts Center, courtesy of a partnership with the American Cancer Society. The group has been touring the country this year to speak out against tobacco advertising aimed at the youth population. Performing artists include Mike-E, Kenny Watson, DJ Invisible and Sowandé Keita.

Common Wealth Winners

Congratulations to seniors Liz Richards and Sandra Igou! They were selected as two of the four winners of the 2009 Common Wealth Writing Award, and now have the opportunity to meet the winners of the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service at a gala on Saturday, April 25, at the Hotel DuPont.

This year's Common Wealth Award winners are actor and director Kevin Spacey, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, astronaut and lunar explorer Buzz Aldrin and novelist Don DeLillo. They are being honored for their contributions in the fields of dramatic arts, mass communications, science and literature, respectively. The Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service is sponsored by PNC Bank Delaware.

The writing contest is open to any Delaware high school student who has an interest in meeting the Common Wealth honorees. Students submit a creative writing entry explaining which honoree they would most like to meet and why. Liz Richards wrote her essay about Kevin Spacey and Sandra Igou wrote about Don DeLillo.

As winners, Richards and Igou and their parents are invited to the Common Wealth Awards press conference, banquet, and awards ceremony. They will have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the honorees and be acknowledged at the dinner before hundreds of invited guests and local dignitaries. Their English teacher Lisa Coburn is also invited to attend the awards ceremony.

Musical Theatre Master Class

On Friday, April 24th, Mr. Jimmy Roberts, who composed the music for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” the longest running off-Broadway show, will be visiting our school, working with our musical theatre students, presenting a master class for some vocal and drama students, and will then perform for our students in the afternoon!

Parlais en Francais, anyone?

On Tuesday April 7, Linda Letson’s French 2,3,and 4 classes met French students for the first time, in the Cab library. Thanks to the wonder of Skype and a particularly resourceful American teaching assistant, Kaori Tomaru from New York, they spoke live to students at the Lycee Sonia Delaunay in Cessons, France. Talk about excitement! The French computer system is about 5 years behind ours, and they found proof positive that it really works. Both schools are humming with excitement about the “beautiful” students at the other school. As of now, we will have another face-to-face Tuesday April 28 at 8 am (2 pm their time).

Free Ride!

Congratulations to Jordanna Wagner, who won the "Ridin' in Style High School Limo Package" sponsored by the Delaware Federal Credit Union. The prize is a three-hour limo ride to the senior prom, and Jordanna was one of two Delaware seniors selected by random drawing on April 3. Way to go, Jordanna!

Art Accolades!

The following students submitted drawings that were chosen to be published in the Delaware Foundation for the Visual Arts Excellence in Drawing Calendar:
Brittany Faye
Kasey Bonk
Haley Evans
Mileeka Ruffin

Erin Kalloo received the first place DFVA senior scholarship award in the amount of $1500.

Maxx Moss was selected for the Cynthia Swanson Award which amounts to free instruction from the artist.

DFVA Merit Awards for Excellence in Drawing were earned by:
Francesca Reyes
Catherine Muldowney
Jillian Goodman
Nicole Penn
Kala McKelvey