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HSMSE PTA Newsletter
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10 September 2014
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Donate to the
HSMSE PTA
Family Fund
Your tax-deductible donations to HSMSE PTA help support sports teams, clubs and student enrichment and purchase needed materials for classrooms. Make a secure online donation through NY Charities.
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Matching Gifts
Many companies match employee donations to charity. Employer matching gifts may also be available if you are the spouse of an employee, a retired employee or the spouse, or widow or widower of a retired employee. Check with your employer, usually with the HR department, to get a matching gift form. Then, mail your matching gift form to the PTA at the following address and we will do all the paperwork:
PTA @HSMSE
240 Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
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Rewards Programs:
Follow this link to search HSMSE's list of recommended books at Amazon. When you shop for these or other items through this link, Amazon donates a percentage of the price to HSMSE.
H SMSE is also registered with MyCokeRewards.com. Click this link, enter the school's zip code (10031), and select HSMSE. HSMSE can earn cash through Stop & Shop A+ School Rewards Program. Register atwww.stopandshop.com/aplus OR call 1-877-275-2758 to register your card over the phone. HSMSE's code is 18113. |
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From the President...
Welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! The administration, teachers, and parents of the PTA are already hard at work to provide an excellent education and high school experience for your children. We hope you will join us every month at the PTA meetings, including our first meeting this Thursday at 6:30PM in the Lecture Hall of Spitzer School of Architecture.
HSMSE would like to welcome the following new teachers to our community:
- Mr. Sean Dolcy serves as our new Assistant Principal
- Mr. Ken Liu, Math
- Ms. Jacqueline Carlisle, Architecture
- Ms. Rachel Stern, English
- Ms. June Kasi, History
- Ms. Meenakshi Muralidhar, Physics
By way of retirement and departure, Ms. Katherine Billotti has accepted a teaching position on Staten Island where she lives, and Mr. John Smith moved away. We bid farewell to Dr. Ruth Stern and Mr. Castro upon their retirement.
I am happy to announce a full calendar of PTA social events, workshops, and fairs, allowing each student to receive everything they need to assimilate, thrive, and prepare for HSMSE and beyond. We are a small and friendly community, and we eagerly invite you as parents to invest your interests and abilities into the life of the school. Each month, the PTA sends out a newsletter like this one chock full of important information, opportunities to serve, items to celebrate, and articles of interest from our very own staff and students. Read it thoroughly, print it out, and put it in a prominent place for easy reference. You don't want to miss a thing, and we want to meet you.
Thank you for supporting our school!
Chris Whitford
PTA President
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 Summer Study Updates!
PASCH Study Trip
Submitted by Yael Saiger
Diana Saavedra and I had the opportunity to travel to Germany this past summer for the PASCH Study Trip funded by the Goethe-Insitut. We stayed in a small historic town called Goslar with a group of 70 students from all over the world. There, we took classes in the morning and had the afternoons to explore the city. We improved our German and learned about German culture. We also had the opportunity to get to know people from different countries, learn about their cultures and establish friendships. On weekends we went on day trips to Wolfsburg and Berlin. It was an incredible experience!
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Summer Study Updates (Con't.)
  Summer Engineering Research with CCNY Engineering Faculty Submitted by Thomas Henning, Physics and Engineering Teacher Four sophomores completed the first of two summer lab placements in The City College's Grove School of Engineering located across the street from the school. Three were involved in chemical engineering research (Rebecca Mikofsky, Breanna Williams, Mirai Sahara) and a fourth (Fernando Martinez) worked in bone  mechanics in the Biomedical Engineering department. They worked closely with doctoral and postdoctoral students, and were guided by the faculty in each lab: Professors Ray Tu and Ilona Kretzschmar in Chemical Engineering, and Susannah Fritton in Biomedical Engineering. All four students will be continuing their research projects during this, their junior year, with an eye towards developing an independent project next summer. My Summer in Japan Submitted by Regina Zafonte, AP World History Teacher This past summer, nine other educators and myself had the privilege of touring Japan for three weeks through a fellowship offered by the Japan Society to capture first-hand insights and transmit that information back to the classroom. Among numerous cities visited, one of our favorites was Kyoto, which served as Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794-1868. Here we found countless temples, shrines, and other priceless structures. Due to its historic and symbolic significance, the city was removed from the list of target cities during the air raids and atomic bombing of World War II. It therefore remains the finest repository of the nation's history and contains 15 UNESCO world heritage sites alone. A quick ride on the 200 mph "bullet train" landed us in another unforgettable city, Hiroshima, a place previously synonymous for the horrors of war, but currently attracts campaigners for peace and nuclear disarmament. It was quite the sobering experience when we shared a meal with two atomic bomb survivors, Mr. Tsugio Ito and Mr. Jong-Keun Lee, unconquerable men who have endured so much pain and hardship, while exhibiting peace and optimism.  | | Atomic Dome, Hiroshima - ruins from 8/6/45 |
As a teacher, no study tour is complete without visiting a variety of schools and learning about the educational norms. It was clear that students cared tremendously about their own learning; they sat disciplined and studious in class and acted as leaders in the absence of teacher supervision. They also highly respected their teachers (known as senseis, a title indicating the highest honor) and would have lunch together. There was a real sense of civic duty as students cleaned their own classrooms and helped to manage the school.  The program is unique in that it afforded a rare opportunity to participate in a homestay where we witnessed the emphasis on family and educational values and saw clearly defined gender roles, all undergirded by Confucianism. In our spare time, we attended a baseball game, which offered a fascinating glimpse into the popularity of the sport. Finally, no cultural adventure is complete without experiencing the food, which was quite amazing in quality and presentation. One of our favorite meals was served at a tepanyaki restaurant in Tokyo, where seated at the counter, we watched the chef prepare our meal in what was nothing short of a theatrical performance. I would love to have HSMSE students get the opportunity to visit Japan! Fortunately, through the Japan Society's Junior Fellows program, sophomores and juniors can complete a highly competitive application and possibly get selected to go during summer of 2015. Scholarships are available and last year one HSMSE student got to go for free. Please see me for more details as applications are due early fall. |
 Don't Miss the Parent-Teacher Mixer!
One of the most anticipated events every year is the annual Parent-Teacher Mixer! All HSMSE parents and guardians are invited to the Parent-Teacher Mixer on Wednesday, October 1, at Covo Trattoria. We hope you will make every effort to to attend this fun event. Details are as follows: - October 1 from 5:30-8:30PM
- Covo Trattoria at 701 West 135th Street, on 12th Avenue (next to the Hudson River, by the 125th Street Fairway)
- $20 per person in advance, $30 at the door
- Admission fee includes hors d'oeuvres and unlimited soft drinks, wine and beer
- Admission for teachers and staff is paid for by the PTA.
- Register here!
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Senior College Night
Parents of 12th graders are invited to Senior College Night on Tuesday, September 23, at 6:00PM in the lecture hall of the Spitzer School of Architecture (click here for CCNY campus map). Parents and students will hear from Wade Klein, HSMSE's College Advisor, and the college office staff about how to prepare for and navigate the college application process this fall. Come with your questions!
Also, the first of the scheduled college visits begin next week with a trip to Williams College on 9/17/14 and Dartmouth College on 9/19/14. For more information, contact Wade Klein or download the attached schedule.
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Special Presentation: Dr. Sion Kim Harris on Teen Safety and Drug Use
We have the wonderful privilege of hearing from an internationally known spokesperson for teen safety from drug abuse (who also happens to be a relative of one of our HSMSE students).
On Thursday, October 9, Dr. Sion Kim Harris will be our guest speaker at the October PTA meeting. Please join us for an informative and interactive evening which will equip us to effectively guide our students safely through the turbulent waters of the teen years. Dr. Harris will address our students during the lunch hours on Friday, October 10.
Dr. Sion Kim Harris is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and faculty in the Divisions of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine and Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. She is Co-Director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR), an international research center focused on the development of innovative, effective strategies to prevent, identify, and treat adolescent substance abuse. Dr. Harris's research includes the exploration of neuroscience education as a potential adolescent substance use prevention strategy. Dr. Harris has published nearly 60 original scientific publications, and has received numerous awards, including the Young Professional Award from the Maternal and Child Health Section of the American Public Health Association, and the T. Berry Brazelton Innovation Award. Dr. Harris received her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For more information on her presentation, please visit: http://teen-safe.org/the-course.
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Sports News
HSMSE Boys Soccer Draw with Hunter at Season's First Game
Under Coach Diunte, the boys soccer team faced Hunter High School this past Sunday morning at Randall's Island for its first game of the season. The Hunter squad is known to bring a large bench force, meaning more subs and fresher legs for the long 80-minute matches. Down 1-0 at half time, the Dragons
came back quickly in the second half with the equalizer from Shahryar Iqbal. Adam Reynolds scored off a pass from Hamza
Akikto make it 2-1, but a late equalizing goal from Hunter took the game to overtime, two 5-minute periods of golden goal. The late-game dramatics made for some nervous spectators, and although the Dragons were not able to convert a couple shots on goals in overtime from Ben Rundbaken and Nick Winokur, keeper Alexei Ohotin held Hunter off to end in a draw.
Fall Runners Get Ready to Race!
The Boys and Girls Cross Country team has taken its final shape now that school has started, although most of the team started in mid-August. The team is 13 freshman, 16 sophomores, 9 juniors, and 5 seniors; five are girls. They've been doing extensive workouts on their race course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx as well as along the Hudson River near school, and are looking forward to their first race on September 22. The freshman will
 run 1.5 miles that day, while the rest of the team is preparing for the 3.1 miles distance. Team captains have been named, and they are senior Michael Alvin, juniors Michelle Lee and Austin Carvey, and sophomore Bin Zhang. In addition to their usual schedule of ten races, this year team members will be giving back to the New York City running community by doing trail maintenance on the race course in the Bronx and working at the Mile 24 water stop of the New York City marathon.
To see the Flying Dragons full schedule, click here.
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Peer Tutoring
Students interested in peer tutoring can request a tutor or volunteer to tutor other students at http://goo.gl/75zNB3. Please contact Mr. Hershow, Michaela Palmer, or Yael Saiger if you have any questions.
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Support HSMSE While You Shop
2. Access Amazon.com via our Bookstore link on the top of the homepage or any Amazon link on the HSMSE website.
3. Purchase ANY Amazon item, not just books, and 4% goes to HSMSE.
4. Tell all your friends and family to do the same.
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Test Preparation Resources
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Engrade
Do you want to get bi-monthly snapshots of your child's progress? Engrade now has the ability to send parents their child's progress reports on the 1st and 15th of every month. Simply email engrade@hsmse.org to request the snapshots and don't forget to include your child's name.
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The PTA of HSMSE
The Parent Teacher Association of HSMSE at CCNY engages parents in their children's education and raises funds to support the school's sports teams, extracurricular activities, and many enrichment opportunities for students and faculty.
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