There is no mystery about the enthusiasm and passion shared throughout the offices, classrooms, and hallways at the Eisenhower Intermediate School.
To celebrate the end of another highly successful school year at Eisenhower, the enthusiastic and passionate leader in this building, Principal Dr. Laura Bassett, directed the biannual Masked Singer assembly on the morning of Friday, June 5.
The Masked Singer competition featured 18 Eisenhower staff members, a field pared down to five after students voted over the past few months.
Those still-alive five contestants then took center stage before the entire staff and student body, eliciting loud responses in the school’s spacious gymnasium.
A panel of judges was comprised of students nominated by their teachers for demonstrating year-long, exceptional SOAR (Safety, Ownership, Acceptance and Respect) behaviors, as well as staff members who all teamed up to select the eventual winner.
Once unmasked, the champion was Tara Rutkowski, who is an Instructional Assistant at Eisenhower. She wore a penguin costume while wielding an ice hockey stick that crashed items on stage.
The runner-up was the spearhead of the school spirit, Dr. Bassett. Music Teachers Christine Nevill and Madison Kaminsky finished third and fourth, respectively, while Jim Perry, the energetic Health and Physical Education Teacher, placed fifth.
Steve Fenton, another popular and vibrant Health and Physical Education Teacher, came in to replace Dr. Bassett as the show’s MC when the Eisenhower Principal scooted out of sight to put on her costume, which was a hamster.
“This was so much fun,” Dr. Bassett said while wearing her custom after the show. “And to make this happen, (Teachers) Gretchen Alvarez and Stephanie Rovi worked behind the scenes.”