6th Grade Trip- Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

The sixth graders visited the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge as a part of our Aquatic Advocacy unit. They viewed migratory species as well as resident species. They also viewed the man made West pond, formerly a brackish habitat. They saw the breach where Hurricane Sandy damaged the refuge and they also saw the marsh restoration project.

6th Grade Trip - Community Survey

During our final sixth grade unit, we are studying the health of our NYC waterways. Students will be developing an aquatic advocacy plan. To gain an understanding of our city's population's knowledge about our waterways, we hit the pavement with a community survey.

We asked people to identify the waterways surrounding NYC using this photo:

We also asked people to identify the largest contributor to water pollution in our waterways.
-Litter/garbage
***Sewage (C.S.O)***
-Industry (past and present)
-Fertilizer run-off

How much raw sewage do you think is poured into the NYC's waterways in one year?
-None
-3,000 gallons
-3 million gallons
***30 billion gallons***
-3 trillion gallons

When students returned to school, they tabulated their results. They will be returning to this data to determine what next steps are required in the advocacy project.

8th Grade Service Learning - Healthy Communities

Our second service learning project is "Healthy Communities." Our students will have the opportunity to learn about an important public health issue and come up with solutions. They will also serve at several organizations that provide public health services to our community. A representative from the NYC Department of Health visited students on our first day to give some introductory information about public health issues in NYC. Throughout the unit, our students will work in small groups studying a public health issue and will eventually create a solution. The Department of Health is looking forward to learning from our students at their final presentations. Students chose to work with one of the following topics for the rest of the unit:

• Smoking
• Nutrition
• Access to Water
• Chronic Illness and Obesity
•  Teen Pregnancy
• Infectious Disease
• HIV/AIDS

8th Grade Service Learning - Be the Change

This week we launched our final eighth grade unit: service learning. Our students will have the opportunity to learn about an important issue and come up with solutions. They will also roll up their sleeves and help out in the community. One of our groups, "Be the Change" will be focusing on hunger and homelessness. Ms. Canning launched the unit by taking the students to help at a soup kitchen!

A Day Group's Visit to Cuyler Warren:

B Day Group's Visit to the Broadway Community Inc:

7th Grade Trip- The Apollo

Seventh grade students had the opportunity to take the Harlem Renaissance tour offered by the Apollo Theater. They learned about the conditions that allowed for the Harlem Renaissance, including the Great Migration and World War 1. They also learned the history of the Apollo Theater, which did not open during the Renaissance. It allowed stars made famous by the Harlem Renaissance to continue performing. Students got to sit in the best seats of the house and visited the green room and the dressing rooms used by many stars including Louis Armstrong.