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| JDHS NEWS AND EVENTS |
April 2008
On Wednesday, February 27th, John Dewey High School held a dedication ceremony of the Michael P. Ragusa Library Media Center named in honor of a former student and heroic firefighter, Michael Paul Ragusa, who lost his life on September 11, 2001. The family and friends of Michael had set up a generous scholarship fund that helps a graduating senior each year. They work diligently to raise funds for this scholarship by holding benefits and fundraisers over the years. This year a portion of the school library was dedicated in Michael’s honor. It houses twelve state of the art computer terminals which were generously donated by the Ragusa Scholarship fund.
It was a heart-warming ceremony with emotions running high as Michael’s family, friends and fellow firefighters came to show their support to the Ragusa family. Also present were faculty, staff and the many students who benefit from the computers and hopefully from the scholarship in future years. When the plaque was unveiled and we saw Michael smiling proudly in his FDNY gear, there was not a dry eye in the house. Mrs. Ragusa spoke eloquently and with great poise about her son. She thanked all those that made this possible for Michael and John Dewey High School.
Principal Fried spoke about how much this scholarship means to John Dewey High School and its students. He closed with reminding us that “DHS is not just a school, but a family and during moments like this, there is nothing more important than family.”
High School Students Help Explore Mars through Innovative Program (excerpted from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Press Release March 28, 2008) -- While most kids can only read about Mars exploration, four groups of high school students from around the country are getting the chance to plan observations of the Red Planet and join the science team analyzing data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. The students are participating in a project called the Mars Exploration Student Data Teams (MESDT), which is run by Arizona State University as a key educational component of NASA’s Mars Public Engagement Program. They are using real data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) flying aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. The primary mission of CRISM is to search for mineral traces of ancient water as it images the planet in up to 544 wavelengths of light. Our HOSA club entered the NYS spring competition in various medical categories. Herbert Garcia won 3rd place in pathophysiology. Four other students, Christka Jolifer, Jee Lee, Jenny Tang and Helen Jiang won 3rd place in the Biomedical Debate. The week of May14, HOSA is holding a bake sale raising money to help the Spirituality for Kids that is located at the corner of 55th Street and 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn. Our Space Science Academy students are holding their bi-weekly videoconferences with Arizona State University will shortly be working with data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. Congratulations to Nancy Lam winner of the 2007 Citigroup Scholarship. Congratulations to Thomas Tomasi, Seaver Wong, Kadeem Wilson, and Miguel Cortez winners of the January 29th - April 5th NYC Stock Market Game. Congratulations to Nicole Suissa winner of the prestigious Gavel Award at the Trinity High School Model Congress Competition. Several Students received an honorable mention in the Holocaust Writing Contest sponsored by the Brooklyn Borough President's Office. Several students have been selected to have their photography work published in an upcoming book entitled: “Write What You See.” Several pieces of student work have been selected to have their work displayed at the 2007 Regional Art Exhibit. The Second Language Department hosted several trips to promote cultural awareness and provide new experiences for our Foreign Language Students, as well as for our English Language Learners. The Title III Saturday Academy was escorted to the Botanic Gardens on April 28th, to the New York Aquarium on May 19th and will go to the Majestic Theatre on May 30th to see the Phantom of the Opera. For most of our students, these trips are first time experiences. On May 23rd, the Italian Teachers from our Foreign Language Department, will escort the students from Jr. Fieri as well as from Italian classes, to Little Italy. The teachers will conduct an historic street tour, and then accompany the students to an authentic Italian meal in a local restaurant. This trip will enrich our students culturally and provide an understanding of Italian-American culture in New York City. Ri Ruan advanced to the Borough Finals of the English Speaking Union of New York’s Shakespeare Competition. Professional actors graced our stage with MACBETH on April 23rd (Shakespeare’s birthday!) and Othello on May 1st. Our Acting classes also showcased their talents at an assembly program. Alisha Acquaye’s and Marta Kopic’s original poems were found worthy of publication in an anthology, A CELEBRATION OF YOUNG POETS, sponsored by Creative Communications. On May 11, 2007, at Kingsborough Community College, students were honored at a Parent Transition Conference. Deputy Chancellor Andres Alonso welcomed our parents and students on this special day. Samuel Baez who exhibited excellent attendance, volunteer experience and development of appropriate world of work skills was given the School-To-Career Award. The Outstanding Accomplishment Award was given to Davida Forms. Melissa D’acunto was given the Attendance Award. The Graduating Senior Award was given to Lilia Aquino who will be attending college in the fall. Jia Fa Yu, a graduating senior in the Culinary Arts Program at John Dewey High School, was one of the twenty-five competitors in the C-CAP cooking for scholarships final competition at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan on Wednesday, April 25, 2007. He prepared and displayed two identical main courses and desserts poullet chasseur avec pommes de terre chateau (Hunter’s chicken with turned sautéed potatoes) and crepes a la crème patissiere avec sauce au chocolat (dessert crepes with pastry cream and chocolate sauce) all within a two hour time frame. Jia Fa hopes to one day manage his own food service establishment. He is confident of his ability to realize his dream with the help of this scholarship. The John Dewey High School Space Science Academy is proud to announce that its students were selected to be part of the NASA Mars Exploration Student Data Teams. The students will be working with data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. This instrument is onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that is presently orbiting Mars. The teams are responsible for a specific geographic area where they will retrieve current information from datasets and current visual and infrared images, and analyze the surface history and geomorphology of the terrain at their specific site. We are one of six high school teams across the country to participate in this exciting student-directed research project. The students and their advisors will interact with other schools’ student groups and advisors and NASA scientists through video conferencing and an electronic bulletin board system. The staff advisors are Barry Fried, Honora Dash and David Tannenbaum.  The 2007 Robotics team (John Dewey & Canarsie High Schools Team #333 – CAN-DEW) consists of John Dewey High School Juniors Robert Fera, Eugene Kaminsky, and Amir Masri. Our students worked hard on their robot for six weeks from the date of the announcement of the game on January 6th. The competition is scheduled to take place on Friday, March 16th through Sunday, March 18th, 2007, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The event is open to the public, and is always a lot of fun.  HOSA is competing in a NYS Competition at Wyndham, NY. The competition is scheduled for 3/28/07 - 3/30/07 with participation in Biomedical debates, Medical terminology, Pathophysiology, Human growth and Human development events. The AMC, American Mathematics Competition, was held on February 6th. We had 102 students take the exam. Cheyenne Teng and Xiao Yu Zhu both earned a score of 97.5 and were tied for the top score in the AMC 10. The top scorer on the AMC 12 was Chun Kit Yu with a score of 100.5. Pi (p) day was March 14th. At Dewey, this mathematically special day, 3/14, is used to celebrate mathematical excellence. The Math team members, the MOUSE squad, the high scorers on the AMC, the poster contest winners, and the Pi day contest winners were all invited to the Math Resource Center at 1:59 pm for an awards presentation and, of course, pie! February was Career and Technical Education month. The Business Department celebrated with guest speakers, Junior Achievement “Teacher for a Day” program, “Job Shadows”, posters, and articulation with our Guidance Department. On Valentine’s Day, the Culinary Arts students made red velvet cakes and chocolate roses for Valentine’s Day. The Med-Tech program set up stations around the building and took blood pressure. Thirteen John Dewey students embarked upon a “back to the future” mission when they returned to their local elementary school. The high school juniors and seniors volunteered to teach students at nearby Public School 188, about the importance of staying in school as part of Junior Achievement New York’s “High School Heroes” program. Justin Mui finished in 10th Place in the INVEST WRITE essay contest sponsored by the Foundation for Investor Education group. John Dewey’s English Department proudly represented at the English Speaking Union of New York’s Shakespeare Competition. Ri Ruan, our winner, advanced to the Brooklyn Borough Finals, where he delivered his memorized Shakespearean monologue from Othello and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23. Professional actors will grace our stage with two performances this spring – Macbeth on April 23 (Shakespeare’s birthday!) and Othello on May 1. The English Department celebrated Black History Month with bulletin board displays, essays, poems, etc. A culminating school-wide assembly program took place on February 26th. Our Women in Literature classes will usher in Women’s History Month with various displays and activities. Richard Hoehler, actor and writer, gave an interesting hands-on presentation about the writer’s craft. Congratulations to the following: Luigi Fu, Mohammad Rahman, and Dana Mattison winners of Posse Scholarships; the KEY Club on another successful supply drive for our sister school the Fatima School in Zimbabwe, Africa; the Mock Trial Team for becoming the first team from our school to compete in the tournament in over ten years; Tyler Hayes on being accepted to the Lehman Scholars Program; Gisel Duval, Mark Shkovsky, Erica Seda, Greta Tana, Sandra DoVale, and Olga DeKalo on having their photos selected to be included in an upcoming text, Write What You See: 125 Photos for English Composition Classes; and to eight of our students selected to take part in the Center for Arts Education Career Development Program for the Spring of 2007. We would also like to thank the KEY Club for their continued efforts to reach out to the surrounding community. This includes their recent trip to a nursing home at the Sephardic Jewish Center and their Learning for Life Bowl-a-thon. The John Dewey High School Student Organization sponsored the Breast Cancer Walk to support the American Cancer Society on Sunday, October 15, 2006 at Prospect Park. We had 184 people on our team and raised $5,987. John Dewey High School students in Mr. Fried and Ms. Dash’s Earth Science class had a unique experience in October. They took part in a NASA Digital Learning Network project called “Can A Shoebox Fly” Challenge. Teams within the class had to produce a glider that incorporated a shoebox as part of the design. They combined their knowledge of flight principles as well as creativity to complete the challenge and demonstrate their understanding to NASA flight specialists and other students. The unique part of this event was that our students presented their gliders to students in Alabama and NASA scientists in “real time” using “Teleportec” technology at our school. This enables students living in different parts of the country or even the world to meet each other via digital teleportation and collaborate on cultural exchanges and projects. John Dewey High School students are also involved with a cultural exchange program with the Wellpinit High School located on a Native American reservation in Washington state. We will continue to participate in other NASA Digital Learning Network sponsored programs throughout the upcoming years. On October 18, the Science Dept. had the opportunity to take 500 freshmen to the NY Aquarium on a marine ecology scavenger hunt. Students were split up into small groups and their assignment was to answer questions based on information found at the exhibits. Assistant Principal Jose Merced and teacher Lane Rosen received the Coastal America award for educating students in marine environmental awareness. Dr. Merryl Kafka, Aquarium curator of education, presented the award on behalf of President George Bush. Marine Science students went on a trip to Cold Springs Hatchery to see egg stripping of trout and brought back 500 trout eggs to raise in the marine research lab to be released next May. Congratulations to teacher, David Salem, who was honored as “Educator of the Year” at the Junior Achievement of New York 2006 Awards Gala, and Student Leader Boris Manakhimov who was also honored at this event. Stephanie Hom, a recent graduate of John Dewey High School, has been awarded first place in the Brooklyn 2006 Junior Achievement of New York School Heroes Essay Contest. Ms. Hom received a $1,000 cash prize for winning the competition. Leanne Wong, also of John Dewey High School, was the runner-up; she received a $500 cash prize for her essay. Congratulations to the Academy of Finance Seniors for their successful participation in the Junior Achievement teacher for a Day Program at several local elementary schools. News12 Brooklyn covered the event and Ursula Leja was interviewed by the station. The English Department is pleased to announce the launching of a new program - a multi-cultural study called THE WORLD CULTURES INSTITUTE. Students will celebrate their cultures and ethnicities and learn about the contributions of other cultures as well through reading, writing, discussions, creative projects, and class trips. Congratulations to Shernet Bryan winner of First Honorable Mention at a Model Congress competition held at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights. The Model Congress Team will be making its annual trip to Washington D.C. from November 16-19. The competition is sponsored by Princeton University. The KEY Club will once again be sponsoring its annual supply drive for our Sister school in Zimbabwe, Africa. These drives are making a tremendous difference in the lives of the students there. The theme for the Mathematics Department Poster contest this year was “Math is FUNdamental”. The first place winner for Mathematical Content was Cathy Bao, the first place winner for Artistic Presentation was April Joy Rivers. The winners will be presented with awards on Pi Day, 3/14/07, a day for Mathematical celebration. We are pleased to announce that we have completed assessing the incoming freshman class for the NYC Fitnessgram. Assistant Principal Jaymie Loeb and her staff found that our freshmen were receptive, motivated and cooperative throughout the practice and assessment process in the five areas of health related fitness. Ms. Loeb thanks Mr. Alan Lewin, Regional Instruction Specialist of PE and Fitness for his support and encouragement. Ms. Loeb and teacher Carrie Gavigan are pleased to announce that student Frederick Anyanwu was selected as Physical Education Leader of the Month. He has displayed outstanding ability and leadership. The 2006 Scholastic Art Winners: Students: S Afiya Forbes (Silver Key for apparel design) - Sophisticated Beauty Robert Lum (Honorable Mention for Digital Imaging) - Street Scene Samantha Zhao (Gold Key for Computer Art) - Collage Portrait Teacher: Martina Hooker Students: Kit Lam (Silver Key for Ceramics) - Autumn Hui Li Lin (Silver Key for Ceramics) - Bamboo Teapot Teacher: Caryn Kreitzer Students: Alexia Arthurs (Honorable Mention for Photography) - Life's Order Antuela Tollja ( Honorable Mention for Photography) - Protrait of Redli Teacher: Michael Solo Chan Jan Zhou, an AOF senior was one of the NY Times Scholarship winners. Here's the photo of the scholarship winners, from the Times website. Chan Jan Zhou, our student, is the one in the middle, in the argyle sweater. 
5th Annual City Wide Graphic Arts Competition Congratulations to junior Mark Grichevsky, a student in our photography program, who has won first prize in the digital photography category of the 5th Annual City Wide Graphic Arts Competition sponsored by the NYC Department of Education. Mark was one of many NYC public high school students that participated in this competition which was held at the NYC College of Technology in Brooklyn, NY. Yet, he was the only first prize winner in New York City. As a first prize winner, Mark received a trophy, digital camera, and a roundtrip to USA TODAY headquarters in McLean, VA for a tour and a hands on experience workshop. Three of our students have been entered into the 5th Annual Graphics Arts Competition for this year; Mark Grichevsky for Digital Photography and Mohamed Suliman and Andrew XU for Desktop Publishing. Good luck to you all. DEBATE TEAM HAPPENINGS On Saturday, 3-11-06, three of our finest students traveled to Telecommunications High School in Bay Ridge to compete in a practice debate against the fine team from our sister school. This debate took place in preparation for the 5th annual Jerry M. Goldberg Lincoln-Douglas debate tournament on Tuesday, 3-21-06 at Pace University. This will be an all day event in which students will compete in a total of four debates. We will going back to Telecommunications High School this coming Saturday, 3-18-06 to have another practice debate. This year's debate topic deals whether or not it is justified to place cultural or political restrictions on the right of access to humanitarian aid. The following students will be representing our school in the tournament: Jessica Bynoe (team captain), Margie Louis, Tracie McQuilkin and Romanowski Jules (team alternate member). Their coach and faculty advisor is Mr. Burt Bloom of the English Department. Let's wish them all the best of luck! From our Social Studies Department . Congratulations to Nicole Suissa, our VP of Model Congress and to Philippe St. Juste for receiving the highest honor, The Saint Ann's Gavel" at Saint Ann's Annual Model Congress Conference held Sunday, October 23, 2005. Also Congratulations to Irina Vasilyeva for a first Honorable Award. Congratulations to our JDHS Model Congress for their participation and success in Washington D.C. at the Princeton University's Annual Model Congress held November 17 to November 20, 2005. From our Mathematics Department . The Mathematics Department sponsored a poster contest. The poster theme was "Mathematics Measures Up". The students who entered the contest created posters based on how mathematics is used in daily life to measure our world. Two first prizes were awarded one for Mathematical content and the other for Artistic presentation. Mickey Lao was the first place winner for Mathematical content and Shanice Coombs was the first place winner for Artistic presentation. The winners will be awarded plaques on Pi Day, 3/14. The winning posters are displayed on the Mathematics Department Bulletin Board. From our Science Department . Project CREEK is a joint project between the Coney Island Community, John Dewey High School and the NY Aquarium. Project CREEK focused on the restoration and monitoring of Coney Island CREEK during the 2004-2005 school year. Currently Lane Rosen, a Marine Science teacher and Jose Merced, AP Science at JDHS are monitoring The Trout in the Classroom Program. This statewide and federal program focuses on raising trout. This program helps students learn various science skills while maintaining the habitat of the trout. At the end of the year, our students will go to Wards Pound Ridge in Upstate New York to release our trout with other NY State schools. John Dewey High School was awarded a federal\state grant for the necessary equipment to raise the trout. Three students are creating a wildlife documentary on the trout. Lane Rosen also maintains an Aquarium room with approximately 20 tanks. Students are actively involved in this room. From our English Department . We are once again participating in the English Speaking Union of New York's Annual Shakespeare competition, which involves students' selecting and memorizing a Shakespeare monologue and sonnet. The winner at the school level will advance to the Borough Finals where he or she will compete against the winners from among the other participating high schools. We are proud to announce the following winners in the 2005 "Stories My Grandparents Told Me" Essay Contest sponsored by the Police Athletic League: Outstanding Essay Category, Mariya Ziskin; First Place Winners, Stephanie Hom, Xiao Huang, Kevina Pennington, Mei Ling Wong, Andy Yu; Second Place Winners, Trevene Bell, Emily Herrera; Third Place Winners, Alex Gu, Lily Mai Our Senior Advanced Placement English class and other selected seniors attended a Writers' Workshop on December 2 in our Library. The speaker was Richard Hoehler, an actor and writer who gave a hands-on presentation about the writer's craft. The seniors were given an invitation to participate in The World of Expression Bertelsmann Foundation's Scholarship Program of which he is a representative. The English Department is once again participating in the English Speaking Union of New York's Annual Shakespeare competition, which involves students' selecting and memorizing a Shakespeare monologue and sonnet. The winner at the school level will advance to the Borough Finals where he or she will complete against the winners from among the other participating schools. From Our Business Ed. Career & Technology Education Departments .The Business Education Department has been fortunate enough to be able to obtain MOS Testing software for our students. This means that students who are excellent in Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, ACCESS, and POWERPOINT have the opportunity to practice the examination and then take it when they are ready. Upon passing the test, they will receive a certificate from Microsoft giving them accreditation in that area. This certification should be included on student resumes as well as on a job interview and presentation to future employees. In the Cooperative Education program, many of students are working for prestigious companies, such as: o Ambac Assurance Corp. o Andrew Heiskell Library o Bank of New York o Citywide Administrative Services o Cravath, Swaine & Moore Law Firm o Dept. of Environmental Protection o Fiduciary Trust o Independence Savings Bank o J.P. Morgan Chase o Kaye Scholer Attorneys o Moody's Investors o MTA o National Academy Foundation o Solomon Smith Barney Victory School In the Junior Achievement of New York program at John Dewey High School, many of our students are taught concepts from macroeconomics to free enterprise. The volunteers bring real life business experience and guidance into the classroom. The job shadow program provides students with an up-close look at the working world and shows them how the skills they learn in school are put to use in the workplace. In addition, High School Heroes chosen from the Junior Achievement program work as Teacher for a Day at local elementary schools in Highlawn, Brighton Beach, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend. These students attend at least one training session and spend time studying their Junior Achievement teaching materials before the event. Whenever possible, Heroes are partnered in groups of two to teach the K-3rd grade classes, demonstrating teamwork to the elementary students. The Heroes teach five lessons from 9:30 am. to 2:30 p.m. These visits occur approximately four times a year. Congratulations to Lisa S. Kong for winning Junior Achievement's Student of the Year Award. She is also the Junior Achievement student ambassador for the senior class. Junior Achievement Teacher for a Day is a program where
high school students attend a training session and spend time studying
their Junior Achievement teaching materials before the event. Students
are partnered in groups of three to teach the K-5th grade classes, demonstrating
teamwork to the elementary students. The advisor, David Salem, has been
doing the program the past 7 years at John Dewey High School and our
students have won $8,000 in scholarships. This year 250 John Dewey High
School students we will be teaching in over 135 classes in 5 elementary
schools. 2. P.S. 200 Bensonhurst 3. P.S. 215 Gravesend 4. P.S. 100 Brighton 5. P.S. 212 Coney Island Our students also participate in Junior Achievement's Job Shadow Program. It provides High School students with an up-close look at the working world and shows them how the skills they learn in school are put to use in the workplace. Students also participate in the Ambassador's program. The ambassadors learn business skills and help Junior Achievement plan various functions. Academy of Finance:Our Finance students have been invited to attend the annual Academy of Finance conference to be held at Baruch College on Friday, January 6th, 2006. Our program is the oldest one in the country, having been developed over twenty years ago. We are proud of our continued achievements with these wonderfully talented and gifted students. They work incredibly hard and also participate in the National Junior Achievement Program. |