East-West’s Got Talent

The 2014 EWSIS talent show was a roaring success, but how did it all come together?

With the wintry mix of snow and sleet this February, our Talent Show was rescheduled to March 6.

Chad Bailey and Douglas Greene advocated for a student talent show and Ms. Patterson helped them form a committee including Mr. Oppenheim and Ms, Brainsky. Students were invited to sign up on a poster to audition, and they signed up with gusto, filling in more names than space permitted! With such great interest we had high hopes, but also had to cull the number of performances, or strictly limit the time allotted to each, and eventually we managed to balance the performances!

Mr. Sherman warmed up the audience during morning Muster with his juggling skills

After fully staged dress rehearsals, the show was a roaring success.

Our incredible PTA Exec Bd Members: Erin Rappaport, Esmilce Escobar, Cora Wong and Denise Eng.
Not pictured: Sharlene Tillett, Tijuan Harris and Lavina Shivnani

Many thanks to the PTA who helped sell tickets and refreshments, students who volunteered to sell tickets and assist backstage, and all the wonderful talented performers and devoted audience members.

The show was particularly memorable because of the variety of acts, showcasing both eastern and western influences:

(Indian dance medley, Korean Pop dance medley, hip-hop dance group that incorporated folk/county, jazz (Pink Panther), and a Sponge Bob square pants song, as well as classical piano, Korean modern piano music, songs from 4 decades sung by students, as well as a Rubix cube unscramble and martial arts demo, for example), and the camaraderie and support that illustrated students following a school spirit embodied in Rachel’s challenge – they dreamt big, looked for the good in all performers, and spoke, cheered, and acted with kindness! It was a beautiful community event!

Thank you to our Masters of Ceremony, Bijan Zavieh and Rahul Shivnani for doing an awesome job of presenting the performers and entertaining the audience.

Thanks to:

Our Contributors: The PTA, Students, Ms. Mandel, and Mr. Oppenheim for selling tickets to help finance Arts and Technology at East-West.

Carolyn Cohen, Janine Esposito, and Margarita Torres for arranging access to shared space and facilitating the approval and planning of the event.

Ms. Bradsher for spearheading the necessary meetings and arrangements to coordinate the Talent Show.

Mr. Sherman for encouraging and supporting every staff and student effort, including advertising the Talent Show at Muster.

Our devoted performers whose rehearsals ensure success!

And ultimately Ms. Brainsky, Ms. Patterson, and Mr. Oppenheim for facilitating the whole event, for without your time and dedication, this event would not have been as successful.

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Scope “You Write It” Contest

Our English teacher, Ms. Binaso, presents Yu Xiong with a congratulations letter from Scholastic Scope Magazine along with a Visa gift card!

Congratulations to Yuxiong Jiang for winning the Scope “You Write It” Contest for the December 2013 issue.  Yuxiong “wrote a fantastic, well-written proposal describing what makes the perfect boy band.”  His entry will be published on the Scholastic Website.

Accessing Algebra Through Inquiry

Ms. Markinson and Ms. Ng’s 9th grade a2i (Accessing Algebra Through Inquiry) Common Core Algebra Regents Class is lucky to have weekly visitors from Queens College this semester.

Accessing Algebra Through Inquiry with Queens College’s TIME 2000 Program

Every Tuesday morning, 18 pre-service math teachers from Queens College’s TIME 2000 Program accompany their professor, Dr. Frances Curcio, to observe Ms. Markinson’s class, work with the students individually, and de-brief with Ms. Markinson after the lesson.

Our ninth graders are forming strong bonds with their college mentors and are honored to participate in this teacher-preparation experience.

Our goals for this partnership are to improve the East-West students’ experience in algebra, and help the TIME 2000 students to become exemplary mathematics teachers.

As a TIME 2000 graduate, Ms. Markinson shared that experiences like this are what confirmed her desire to teach mathematics.

 At the end of the semester, our ninth graders will go to Queens College for a reciprocal visit and participate in a real college class with our Queens College visitors!

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Freedom High At Queens College

Ms. Pechersky:

Right after the mid-winter break, on February 24, my students went to Queens College to attend the stage reading of the new play “Freedom High” by Adam Kraar. The multi-racial cast was composed of students alongside professional actors in an experiential learning opportunity for all, including the audience. During our pre- and post-visit activities and throughout the play, our students were able to learn about the struggle for the Civil Rights from the very participants of these historic events.

According to the performance producers, “In Neshoba County, Mississippi in June of 1964 three Civil Rights workers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, a student at Queens College, were brutally murdered.  The story of 50 years ago focuses on a week when black Civil Rights veterans trained hundreds of white volunteers to work in Mississippi registering black voters.   Jessica Kuplevsky, a white woman who signs up for the training, has no idea what dangers lie ahead. Through her eyes, the play tracks a variety of characters—volunteers from all over America including Civil Rights workers and ministers, as well as racists from Mississippi. With the news of the deaths of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman, Jessica faces a terrifying test of faith. “

Asher Hashmi, 9th grade:

The play was very realistic. At some point I thought I was in the past, and the scenes were very interesting. I loved the story of the play, and it was on the event that happened in the past, so I feel sad for the way black people were mistreated then.

Christian Yu, 9th grade:

The stage reading of the play “Freedom High” was actually realistic. I feel like I was in 1964 to see how the Whites hated the Blacks. When I first saw the play, the protagonist named Jessica tried to help Henry, an African-American. Then, people started to call Jessica a “N-Lover”. It was really scary. The performance was all about drama, romance, and friendship. They affect the people (actors and actresses) and the others around them. I think the performance was more realistic than ever.

The play production for “Freedom High” was beautiful. There was a scene inside a church, when the lighting in the background represented “The light of the Lord”. The conclusion to the play “Freedom High” was like a speech given to the public. Jessica and her friends wanted to end this “nightmare”, so Blacks and Whites could be equal. This ending was amazing.

Here is an opportunity, which is open to the public, to learn more about Queens College 50th Anniversary Civil Rights Project.

Faces of Black History Tour

On Wednesday, February 26th, our Junior NAACP Club proudly presented The Faces of Black History Tour Sponsored by McDonald’s.

From left to right, Timotheus Peay, Christopher Brasfield, Stevanie Williams and Dionne Carole

The hour long Broadway-style show acknowledged the contributions of African Americans from the past to the present.

This live musical show saluted many well-known celebrities, personalities and history makers.

The talented four-member cast took the audience on a high-energy excursion CELEBRATING African American History and Culture.

Members of the Junior NAACP Club led by Ms. Patterson

An event like this is just one example of the special opportunities coming to our school as the result of having an NAACP Club on campus.

Mr. Sherman with Mrs. Cohen, East-West Community Advisory Board Member and NAACP NEQ Chapter Leader

The Junior NAACP’s mission is to encourage students to celebrate diversity and self-awareness through participation in open discussion, civic engagement, and community activism focused on social justice.

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Lee Daniel’s The Butler

In honor of Black History Month, the Junior NAACP hosted a FREE screening of Lee Daniel’s The Butler on Thursday, February 27th.

The movie is loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, an African-American who served as a White House butler for eight presidents and during his tenure, witnessed notable events of the 20th century.

The Junior NAACP continues to plan events as well as volunteer and become active members of our communities.

The club meets regularly on Thursdays, 8th period.

Coding with Ruby

Of the 1600 applications that were submitted to CodeNow, two of our amazing seniors at East-West, Jenny Cen and Angel Vargas, were selected to an incredible program where they had the opportunity to increase their technical computer skills, learn about coding, and even receive a free laptop to keep!

Jenny Cen was part of the first group of CodeNow graduates in NYC

Here is what Jenny has to say about the whole experience:

I first noticed the CodeNow.org program while walking through the hallways. The flyer was on one of the hallway’s doors and was quite interesting. The words “Hackety-Hack” made me think that I may learn how to hack so I decided to learn more about this program. Unfortunately, as I soon learned on the first day of class, Hackety-Hack had nothing to do with hacking. The free laptop (with charger) and a stipend of around $1500 for those who are accepted into the Summer Fellowship cemented my intention to apply to the program. The application process included an interview in Manhattan directly after school too, which made me nervous because it’s an interview. But I managed to get accepted in the end.

When I was accepted, I learned that I had to reply back within a certain time limit. Therefore, if you receive an acceptance email, reply back immediately. The 6-day lessons took place in Manhattan. In fact, it was where the interview took place. Each lesson is from around seven or eight o’clock in the morning to around three or four o’clock in the afternoon. So was it like an entire week of school for three weeks? Yes. Was it worth it? Of course it was. Well, I certainly thought so. Ignoring the whole free laptop aspect of the program, I also had a lot of fun while I was learning Ruby. I did have some homework, but the homework wasn’t too hard. It was just watch some videos and take a very short quiz afterwards. There was even a prize for the first one to complete the assignment.

This program was wonderful because we, the students, explored what exactly a programmer can do. We made simple games like choose your own adventure and rock-paper-scissors, a program that let us tweet without actually going on the website, and even a program that encrypted and decrypted messages. All of this is what a novice programmer can do, a programmer with simply 6 days of lessons. Now imagine what professional programmers can do. They create the websites and games we all know and love. The experience was made greater with all the friendly people I met, both fellow students and the teachers. Every week was a new assigned seat so you will definitely meet some new people. The teachers will also talk to you before class starts and after class ends and are more than happy to help you with your programming. The food was also brilliant. Every day was a different meal and it was always delicious.

If you ever have the chance to apply to this program, you should. It will open your eyes to the wonders of programming and computer science. If you enjoyed the Hour of Code, then you will definitely enjoy CodeNow. If you didn’t, apply anyways. CodeNow is way better than the Hour of Code.

Angel Vargas was part of the second group of CodeNow graduates in NYC

Stay posted for Angel’s reflection of his experience at CodeNow.