Category: Council

Marist, Boston and Denver; What an April to Remember!

This past April was one hell of a month. After surviving my first official graduate school residency at Seton Hall during the first weekend, I was looking forward to going to Boston with the East Side High School Student Council on the 11th and 12th. This was my third overnight trip with the group, and, having had incredibly moving experiences the first two times around, I was extremely excited about this one.

With the East Side High School Student Council
at Harvard University

In two days, we were able to visit four schools: Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern and Boston University. As was the case with previous trips, it was such an empowering weekend. Although I had a lot of great dialogue with the students during our two day venture throughout Boston, three specific conversations stick out: The first was at BC, when we were eating lunch. I was sitting across from a senior who recently moved to the United States from Ecuador seven months ago. We talked about the concept of poverty being relative, and how he plans to navigate going to college over the course of the next couple of years. Afterwards, on the “T” from BC to the North End, I had another great conversation with a sophomore that I often describe as having “unlimited potential.” We talked about college and what it takes to be successful, and ended with discussing possible college visits for the summer. This kid is only a sophomore and he has already seen more than two-dozen major universities! He is also very intellectually and emotionally mature; to be honest, he reminds me a lot of myself when I was in high school. I think he is going to be very successful one day.
A fantastic presentation about the admissions process to the
ESHS Student Council at Boston College 
The following morning, on the way home, I had such a powerful conversation with a group of students about changing the image of East Side and Newark in general. They were explaining some of the ideas they had to make their school a better place through different events and activities. For me, this resonated well with what Arne Duncan said recently: “Students are today’s leaders. Your voice and recommendations to re-imagine our school experience is vital.” I think we as a society discount the opinion of students far too often, and if we really want to make our education system the cream of the crop again, we must empower students and give them some autonomy to make a difference. Regardless, I genuinely enjoy chaperoning these trips so much, although I sometimes do feel a bit bad; I often feel that I learn way more from these amazing kids than I could ever teach them in a million years.
At the 2013 NCTM National Conference in Denver
The following week, my friend (who happens to be my boss) and I went to Denver, Colorado for the 2013 NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) National Conference. What another great trip! We did so much in the five days we were there, as we ate at many fantastic restaurants (including Sam’s No. 3, Osteria Marco and Vesta Dipping Grill), saw a great deal of sites (including the DaVinci Museum, the state capital of Colorado and the 16thstreet mall) and had plenty of exotic food (including rattlesnake and raw kangaroo!). The conference itself was inspirational and moving, and gave me many great resources and ideas to implement in my classroom. It was great to network with teachers from all different types of schools all across the country. Some highlights of the conference include a Harvard Professor lecturing about the concept of fixed vs. growth mindsets, and Dan Meyer’s (author of the well-known “Math Class Needs a Makeover” TED talk) presentation on perplexity. We also planned it out so that we could attend two sporting events before we left, as we got to see the Avs play at the Pepsi Center and the Rockies play at Coors Field. I would be remiss if I did not mention that we got to see the Lawlor family-which was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the trip.

With Mike and the Lawlor family at Coors Field

As April drew to a close, I visited my beloved Marist in Poughkeepsie for one last weekend before the end of the academic year. As with high school, I am sure that the longer I am out of college, the less it will feel like home. But as of right now, I sure do miss Marist College. After catching up with a bunch of friends, we went to Darby’s, had some Irish Nacho’s and wings, and had a load of great laughs along the way. As I said goodbye to all of my friends, I reminded them to enjoy “their last three weeks at the best place in the world.” I think that sums up my feelings about my alma mater pretty well.

And that was the end of a crazy month that I will remember for a long time. I now officially have less than eight weeks before my first year of teaching is under my belt. It has been a great run, but I am still wondering: Where has the time gone?

Visiting D.C. with East Side High School

     I just got back from Washington D.C. with the East Side High School Student Council. After being surrounded by 9th graders for the first seven weeks of school, it was very different being with the brightest 11th and 12th graders East Side has to offer. When I was first asked to chaperone the overnight trip to our nation’s capitol, I was so excited, as I really enjoy the D.C. area and I have been involved with student government for as long as I can remember. I expected to have a great time touring Georgetown and American University and all of the historical artifacts in D.C. What I did not expect, however, was just how powerful these two days were going to be.
Students waiting outside the 4D movie at the Newseum
     I first want to mention how appreciative the entire group was from when we first boarded the bus until we got home. From going to the 4D movie at the Newseum to the many rounds of candy given out on the bus, everything we did was greeted with a “thank you,” and the students were so grateful for everything. Three of the students had never been out of the Newark-NYC area in their lives, and a few had never stayed in a hotel. On Thursday night, I was walking around the hotel lobby, and saw that they were all working out in the hotel’s gym. Perplexed as to why they all wanted to work out on the one day they had off, I decided to go into the gym and ask them. They told me that they were so excited that the gym was free and that it was open 24 hours, and it was a great place to hang out. Our students were so happy to do things that others take for granted every single day, and it was humbling to say the least.
Students working out in the gym at the Hotel


     On the flip side, what surprised me the most perhaps was how other people viewed and looked at these students at almost every place we visited. Seemingly unbeknown to a majority of the students, almost everywhere we went, people looked at these students as if they were out of place. On Friday morning at the hotel, for example, a table of other hotel guests literally got up and left breakfast early because our students were eating breakfast. Many times, complete strangers would give glancing looks at these students, almost as if they wanted to ask why these students were in D.C. or visiting college campuses. The weird thing is that most of the students didn’t even seem to notice, and even the ones that did weren’t bothered by it, possibly because they are all used to living in a world with so many ignorant people.  It was eye-opening to see this first-hand, and although we have made tremendous progress over the last 50 years, we still have a long way to go.
The ESHS Student Council
at the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memorial
     The most powerful moments of the trip, hands-down, were when we were at the two colleges we visited: Georgetown and American University. It was so unbelievably inspiring seeing so many students from Newark interested in college. During the tours, they asked brilliant questions about college life, admissions procedures, and financial aid. It was interesting hearing them worry about things that I took so much for granted for when I was a senior in high school – like how to get into a school without a social security number or how to fill out a mandatory FAFSA form if their parents are undocumented. For many of these student leaders with high GPA’s, the admissions process and financial aid procedure itself is a hindrance to going to college. Although I have read about it many times, actually experiencing institutionalized classism first hand is one of the most opinion-changing events that I have ever stood witness too.
The ESHS Student Council excited to be walking around D.C.!

     Throughout the trip, I was fortunate to have had many amazing conversations with these great students about their future and how they plan on getting there. One of the best conversations I had was with a bunch of seniors about the notion of going to a community college for two years to save money before transferring to a four-year university. Some of these students may have faced tremendous adversities and obstacles in their life, but it is not stopping them from expecting the best out of themselves and attempting to get the best education that they can. After spending two days with this bright, articulate and inspirational group of people, I have tremendous faith that these students are going to be successful in whatever field they want to after college and finally break the “vicious cycle” for their families. I have no doubt that the kids I got to know the last two days are going to be the next great leaders of our country.