![For the Japanese Festival Opening Ceremony, performers play Taiko drums. The event is hosted in the Botanical Gardens due to having one of the largest Japanese gardens in the United States. "The garden [has] cherry blossoms, Japanese palm trees, a beautiful lake and a bonsai, very Japanese style. There’s a lot of Japanese related events because of that," Webster University instructor Hitomi Salini said.
Photo Courtesy Of Nathan Kwarta](https://lancerfeed.press/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Taiko_Opening_Ceremony_Nathan-Kwarta_230902_031-1200x800.jpg)
![Sophomore Ezra Leslie stands and plays "Pete's Groove" on the trombone at the Rockwood Jazz Festival in front of other bands and parents. Leslie has enjoyed being in the jazz band because of the unique style of music he has been exposed to. “The articulations and patterns are just fun to play [on the trombone],” Leslie said.](https://lancerfeed.press/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ezra-900x600.jpg)
Lafayette welcomes new assistant principal for 2023-2024 school year
photo courtesy of Matt Borzillo
As current assistant principal Kirti Mehrotra will be resigning, Matt Borzillo will be taking her place for the 2023-2024 school year. He is currently the assistant principal at Selvidge Middle School, overseeing the 8th Graders.
March 29, 2023
Matt Borzillo will be welcomed as a Lancer and replacing Assistant Principal Kirti Mehrotra, who’s retiring on July 1. Borzillo will make the transition of switching from an assistant principal at Selvidge Middle School to an assistant principal at Lafayette.
“He officially starts July 1 in his new role, since assistant principals don’t work all summer long,” Principal Karen Calcaterra said.
Borzillo is excited to continue his career in the education field, especially because he saw his dad teach in Rockwood.
“I got to see what life was like and the difference that it made in the lives of many kids,” Borzillo said.
He aims to support and work with high school students as he said these students are preparing for their future.
“Middle school is all about getting ready for high school [and] getting ready for more school. I think in high school, you have many kids getting ready for a career,” he said.
Although he might be new to working entirely in a high school setting, he has had experiences with high schoolers by coaching freshman football and working at youth camps. On top of that, Borzillo was able to visit Lafayette for a day and interact with students.
“I just had a blast. I think I laughed more than I have in a really long time [by] having great conversations with kids and seeing what they’re into and seeing how different it is from when I was in school,” he said.
In addition to interactions, several students like sophomore Abby Scott were part of a committee that witnessed Borzillo and a bunch of other interviewees answer a handful of questions in 30 minutes. During that time, Abby took notice of Borzillo’s composure.
“He was very friendly and calm during the interview, which I think is something that Lafayette strives to have,” she said.
Calcaterra is glad to be welcoming a new member to the community.
“He’s going to be a great asset to our school coming from a middle school. He has a lot of background in that area, and as we transition him to our freshman class, it’ll be good because he has worked with them,” Calcaterra said.
Upon entering Lafayette, Borzillo’s main goal is to stay close to the community and be included in all it has to offer.
“My first top priority is to get to know as many people as I can, and really just start building relationships. That goes with teachers, parents, students, and all staff,” he said.
