The International Insider » election

Teachers Learn New Tricks

Chamika Wanigatunga — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:17:13 +0000

Japanese teacher Mrs. Higashide using skills the learned at teacher development.

So, what were we all doing on Election Day? Going to the booths to vote or just enjoying a day off? Our teachers had other things to do. It was their professional development day and they all went to do different activities throughout New York City.

Professional development is about giving teachers ideas that they can then apply to their teaching.

The history teachers, for example, took a course on public speaking from Richard Green, author of Words That Shook the World. They learned how the gift of speech, when used properly, can change the world.

“The whole experience was a good way for me to teach US History students about how many of the most influential people in history used words to convey their thoughts on a wide scale,” said history teacher Ms. Mangiero.

Some teachers dove deeper in to what they already know. For example, the math teachers, Ms. Lo, Ms. Li, Mrs. Niederhoffer, and Ms. Biancaviso, remembering to bring their thinking caps, went on a math trail, where they solved various problems.

“This was a way for us to help students connect math to real life,” said Ms. Lo.

The same goes for Japanese teacher Mrs. Higashide, who learned about a new teaching strategy, which is being used by many schools in the European Union. Content and Language Integrated Learning, or CLIL connects language with other subjects. The teacher, and students speak in the language they’re studying while learning their academic subject.

“It would be interesting to try it at our school and study the level of proficiency and cultural knowledge that the students can obtain through the experience,” said Mrs. Higashide.

“I really loved professional development!” said music teacher Mrs. Packowski, who seemed to have loved her professional development the most out of all the teachers. For her PD, Mrs. Packowski stayed on the island, going to Staten Island Yech to work with music students there.

“The rehearsal strategy portion was not as helpful to me because our school has such a unique program,” said Mrs. Packowski.

Professional development was however, more of a way for teachers to improve on their teaching so they can then pass it on to their students, leaving them with more of an experience than just a memory.

Bloomberg: Round Three

Oscar Lee — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:42:53 +0000

US Federal Government
Mayor Bloomberg at a press conference.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg was re-elected on November 3, 2009. Michael Bloomberg, running as an independent Republican, beat Democrat city Comptroller William Thompson 51 to 46 percent, with a total of 557,059 votes.

On October 23, 2008, New York City Council voted on a bill to extend term limits, which therefore allowed Mayor Bloomberg to seek re-election for a third term. By referendum, the City Charter was amended. Bloomberg argued that his political and business experience will help free New York from deficit.

“The reason I ran for Mayor is because there’s no other job where you can have such a direct and meaningful impact on the day to day lives of so many people. Over the past eight years, we’ve taken every opportunity to do just that, whether it’s driving down crime, fixing our public schools, creating new jobs, making our streets and parks cleaner and safer, or improving our environment and public health,” said Bloomberg on his campaign blog.

Only about 1.1 million people voted, 200,000 less than in 2005. According to the studies of political science, low turn out-elections are dominated by people with intense feelings, while others are apathetic and choose not to vote.

According to Bloomberg.com, in the beginning of the fiscal year, which began July 1st, NYC had an approximate $5 billion deficit. Bloomberg made promises to improve schooling and municipal services during the next four years.

However, according to the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), schools have been suffering budget cuts of 10 percent and upwards.

“What does the Union hope for from Mayor Bloomberg? To stop cutting school funds. Our school as well as others had their budget cut severely this year. The sad thing is, this is only going to get worse next year. Cutting our budget means there will be very little money available for school administrators to use to enhance student learning,” said science teacher and UFT Chapter Leader Ms. Kim Lombardi.

The Bloomberg Administration claims that, by 2013, New York City will have the best public school system of any big city in the United States.

“The budget cuts in school will have a strong impact on my education. There aren’t even enough textbooks for everyone in class,” said freshmen Jacqueline Armao.

In addition, to improving public schools, Bloomberg plans on reducing crime, planting over one million trees in the city, making public transit more efficient, and investing in public colleges.

“I have no doubt that our best days are still ahead,” said Bloomberg in his victory speech.

National Honors Society: Embarking on a New Tradition

Brianne Hannafey and Marissa Mule — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:33:05 +0000

Have you ever wanted to be part of a new club or organization? Is your grade point average at least an 88? Do you have community service hours that you need to put to the test? Fortunately, you’re in luck. Our school has joined in the chapters of The National Honor Society (NHS,) and recently inducted a second year of new members.

NHS is a nationwide organization, consisting of many chapters. According to the official National Honors Society website, nhs.us.com, induction into this organization is based on four criteria: service, leadership, scholarship and character. Additionally, NHS chapters typically elect officers, who, under the supervision of the chapter advisor, coordinate and manage the chapter as a student organization

Scholarship for the students inducted is based on the students average GPA before NHS.

“I was honored to be the leader of NHS and I’m looking forward to learn and experience more throughout this school year,” said a senior inductee Wingsum Cheung, who spoke about the scholarship and it’s requirements.

Character, in the National Honor Society is effected by how the student behaves or acts. Students attending National Honor Society are role models for their peers. Leadership is based on how involved a student is in different school activities.

Service is determined on what the student does for the community in and outside of school. In our school, in order to graduate a student must have at least 120 community service hours.

Citizenship is the last of the five pillars of the National Honor Society, and does not happen until a student is inducted. Citizenship is based on how a student acts once inducted.

These pillars acknowledge all the achievements of each students. It is a way to prove that all their hard work and success has paid off.

“National Honor Society is a lot of fun, and putting together the induction ceremony was a great experience,” said senior inductee Katie McSherry

On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 17 students were inducted into the National Honor Society. Mr. Christopher Chieh, Ms. Karolynn Mangiero, Ms. Ho-Ling Lo, Mrs. Aimee Horowitz, and Mr. Joseph Canale spoke on behalf of the students being inducted and were able to broaden the inductees perspectives as lovers of learning, by giving words of advice.

Once everyone is inducted, elections are held to see which member will hold which job, president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. After they are assigned their job, they must fulfill the duties that come with being a part of NHS.

“The National Honor Society is an extraordinary academic student organization that shines on the achievements of the students in it,” said senior Raquel Wood.

“It was a real privilege to speak at the National Honors Society ceremony. My message was for the students to be persistent in their goals, and be dedicated to everything they do. The ceremony was very well planned,” said science teacher Mr. Christopher Chieh.

At the ceremony, while the students were describing the five pillars, a candle was lit for each of them. Moreover, each of the students inducted were called up one by one and given a certificate, a membership card with a pin, and a candle to hold.

After the last person lit their candle, the NHS pledge of allegiance was recited.

“I am excited to work with new and old NHS members. These members are gifted and talented students who have achieved academic and personal accomplishments. I look forward to supporting these students in their future success,” said math teacher and NHS advisor Ms. Ho-Ling Lo.

Peace in the Middle East

Laurel Haim and Rosa Carucci — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:35:50 +0000

In January 2009, history was made with the election of Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States. However, this was not the only change occurring around the world.

On February 10th, 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud Party, center right, was elected prime minister of Israel.

At the same time, Bashar al-Assad, who is the president of Syria, is currently interested in entering negotiations with Israel, trying to bring peace to the Middle East in hopes of gaining back the Golan Heights.

“As for Syrians, whether government workers or citizens, the Golan Heights is never considered a material resource. It is rather a symbol of honor. It makes every Syrian upset to think their land is owned by Israel and that Israelis are pulling trees and causing destruction everyday. As Syrians we recognize peace with Israel as the day when the Golan Heights comes back to its owner,” said Tahini Yaghshi of Damascus, Syria.

Some Israelis, however, don’t want to lose the Golan Heights

“The Golan Heights is a good strategic point to defend our northern border,” explained Kobe Haim, a former Israeli soldier.

On June 5, 1967 its neighboring countries Syria, Egypt, and Jordan attacked Israel. The war ended with a decisive victory by Israel. Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan.

After sixty years of occupancy by Israel and sixty years of refusing to return the Golan Heights, Syrian President Bashar al- Assad is trying to gain the land back in a peace deal.

“The Syrians claim to own Golan Heights, but since we can’t trust them because they are probably funding terror organizations like Hezbollah, we can’t let go of it. Syria is known for its terror founding activities and supporting it in anyway. Like many Islamic nations, they oppose Israeli existence and western nation intervention like the U.S,” continued Haim.

Although Israelis believe the land is their own, keeping it is a violation of U.N. Resolution 242 since the captured land was occupied territory gained through war.

“Technically it is a violation of the resolution, but they need to focus on problems standing in the way of peace right now instead of focussing on problems concerning Resolution 242. The resolution is from a long time ago and the U.N hasn’t done much about it anyway,” said history teacher Ms. Tonya Brooks.

For many years, Israel’s West Bank has also been a tense issue. Palestinians consider it their land, in keeping with the U.N. resolution. However, Israelis believe they have a right to the land.

“ I think making a peace deal is the key step towards peace for the Middle East,” said senior Farooq Hussain.

Netanyahu only wants a peace plan if Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

But, Palestinians, who live in Israel’s West Bank recognize Israel as an Arab nation, so they continuously fight for what they believe is their land.

Mr. Saeed Erekat stated in a BBC news source on April 17, 2009, “Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples. The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] has already recognized the state of Israel. Netanyahu refuses to even mention a Palestinian state.”

Further complicating the issue, last year, Hamas launched missiles into Israel, putting Israeli citizens in danger.

In response, Israel attacked Gaza, and the result was a two- month long war, which ended one day before Barack Obama’s inauguration, that ended with more Palestinians casualties than Israelis.

In response to Bashar al- Assad’s hope for negotiations, Netanyahu wants to discuss peace with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Syria.

Furthermore, Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman is in favor of peace with Syria, only if it is peace for peace, not land for peace.

Likewise, Netanyahu believes that the Golan Heights could become a launching pad for attacks on Israel if the Syrians are granted land.

Still, President Obama hopes to help Syria, Gaza, and Israel accommodate each other’s wants and needs for a peace negotiation.

“Unfortunately we are expecting very little from these peace talks, especially after the events in Gaza,” said Yaghshi.

In keeping this goal, though, President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton recently met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to discuss a two state solution.

“As for the recent change of politicians in the United States not only Syria, but all of the Middle East is more comfortable with the United States,” said Yaghshi.

Monthly Triumvirate

Sam Murphy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:07:54 +0000

In honor of my impending graduation, I’ve decided to do something a bit different than my usual column. Instead, I’m going to present to you what is, to me, the best album, the best book, and the best movie that’s been released in the last four years. So, if you only pick up three of my selections, make it these three.

BEST ALBUM: This one took a lot of thinking on my part, as we’ve seen so much amazing work from so many amazing artists during our high school tenure. It’s really killed me to decide, but really, despite all my gripes about how different it was from their earlier releases, The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife was, and remains, sheer beauty that beats even Jack White’s pure, raw passion or the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s new direction in terms of making the listener feel the songs. There really aren’t too many words for the Decemberists’ sound; but it’s got substance, it’s not hard to get into, it’s literary, and, most of all, it’s passionate. The Crane Wife, it seems, only gets better with time.

BEST MOVIE : This category really made me think about what makes a movie great: is it the characters? The dialogue? The plot itself? Or, perhaps, something more than that, which draws viewers into the two-hour world of whatever film they’re watching. It’s all these things, I realized, and all of them in perfect conjunction with each other. And while there was Juno, and while there was Dark Knight, and while there was Pan’s Labyrinth, none of these films really compare to There Will Be Blood. How did I arrive at this decision? Stay at home all day, one day. Alone. Then, right before you see anyone, watch TWBB. You’ll understand how heavy this film is. It created emotions in me that no other film has ever done, except maybe all three of the Lord of the Rings films. That’s about ten hours with the same characters and the world. There Will Be Blood is that powerful.

BEST BOOK: Okay, so I’m cheating on the book front, like I always have done, because the book I chose was not published while we were in highschool. However, it is the book I think that everyone should read more than any other book simply because it is enjoyable. It is the perfect ending to being forced to read in high school in that it is a book that will be enjoyed no matter how you read it. Series come and series go, but none have endured stronger than the one that earned this reward. It is enigmatic, forceful, dark at times, and always amazingly written. It is a series of books that changes depending on the way it is read more than any other book, and it shines no matter how you read it. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams reminds us of the most basic principle of life: the fact that life, the universe, and everything is natrually funny, and it’s just a matter of getting the joke.