High Tech Attends Hip-Hop Youth Summit at Columbia

(New York, NY—January 22, 2015) Twenty-seven High Tech students took part in the third annual “Cyphers for Justice: Hip-Hop Youth Summit” at Teachers College, Columbia University, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Sponsored by the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME), “Cyphers for Justice” (CFJ) Youth Day summits assemble high school students, artists, community workers, and pre-service and in-service educators from across the tri-state area to participate in a day devoted to interactive skill-building workshops, presentations, and hip-hop discourse centered on socio-educational justice issues.   

High Tech has now attended two of the past three CFJ Youth Day summits, and High Tech students performed original poetry and conducted a 15-minute presentation about their experiences with hip-hop education, spoken word poetry, social activism, and High Tech’s school-wide poetry slam, “Word Up.” 

The following High Tech students took part in this special day’s events: Brianna Kelly of Bayonne; Jalen Vargas of Guttenberg; Jersey City residents Jaelan Acosta, Robert Clores, Edsel Engalla, Jr., Sade Ford, Kennedy Hargrove, Ashley Johnson, Fatmata Kamara, Ashlesha Kulkarni, Gabriella Navas, Natalie Papas, Hamza Qureshi, Chandni Raithatha, Vanessa Rosensweet, Cynthia Vasquez, and Ben Vock; Kelly Molina and Devon Vaz of Kearny; North Bergen residents Emily DeCaro, Jeanette Fernandez, and Karina Voronich; Alana Aninipot, Aaleah Oliver, and Kerri Sitty of Secaucus; and Union City residents Kaitlin Juarez and Sabrina Quinones.

HCST County Prep High School SkillsUSA Collecting Jeans for Youth

SkillsUSA from Jersey City is collecting jeans for Teens for Jeans, a national campaign in partnership with Aéropostale and DoSomething.org, encouraging young people across the county to donate gently used jeans to help homeless youth. 

Over a million young people experience homelessness in the United States every year and one of the most requested items that young people in homeless shelters ask for is a pair of jeans. In the past seven years, young people across the country have collected over 4.3 million pairs of jeans through Teens for Jeans.

Members of the community can support the SkillsUSA drive by dropping off their gently used denim at any of SkillsUSA locations from January 12 to February 15, 2015. 

● Hoboken City Hall - 94 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030

● Bayonne City Hall - 630 Avenue C., Bayonne, NJ 07002  (Room 13)

● Jersey City Hall - 280 Grove Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302

● HCST County Prep High School    525 Montgomery St, Jersey City, NJ 07302 For more information, please visit TeensForJeans.com or contact Mr. Grele at (201) 631-6301 at mgrele@hcstonline.org

Kerry Butler, Christine Pedi and More Set for BROADWAY LOVE at High Tech Musical Theatre, 2/2

Kerry Butler, Christine Pedi, James Carpinello, Telly Leungand more are set for "Broadway Love" at High Tech Musical Theatre to raise money for arts students on February 2nd, 2015.

Kerry Butler (Catch Me If You Can, Xanadu, Hairspray),Christine Pedi (Chicago, Newsical), James Carpinello (Rock of Ages, Saturday Night Fever), Telly Leung (Godspell, Rent, Glee), Anastacia McCleskey (Violet, Book of Mormon, Priscilla), Kate Loprest (First Date, Wonderland), Clarke Thorell (Annie, Hairspray) and more announced along the way will perform at a special benefit concert to help raise money for High Tech Musical Theatre, a performing arts group at High Tech High School, as students in the Musical Theatre program have been selected to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this summer of 2015 through AHSTF (American High School Theatre Festival).

Twenty-five students have to fundraise upwards of about $150,000 for the trip to cover all expenses. With limited help, they are on their own and are looking towards the community and Broadway fans for their help.

Winner of various awards, including Rising Stars at Papermill Playhouse and Metro North Cappies, High Tech Musical Theatre is celebrating 15 years of award winning theatre, bringing quality high school theatre to its community as they intend to bring their spring production of A Chorus Line to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, August 1-14, 2015.

Broadway stars will be performing some signature songs and songs of love just in time for Valentine's Day in their intimate 140-seat Black Box Theatre with a live band.

Directed by Alex Perez (Ultimate Drag Off, De La Guarda) and Musical Direction by Charles Santoro (Silence the Musical, Disenchanted).

The performance will take place on Monday, February 2nd, 2015 at 7PM at High Tech High School: 8511 Tonnelle Avenue (Rt. 1/9), North Bergen NJ 07047. (Just 20 minutes outside of NYC). Contact: 201-662-6800 xt. 8241.Tickets are $50 and available at www.SHOWTIX4U.com under 'HT Musical Theatre Broadway Love'.

Donations can be made to High Tech Musical Theatre directly to the school or by visiting: www.GoFundMe.com/elcavc.

High Tech’s Aaleah Oliver Advances to 2015 Poetry Out Loud Region 6 Championship

(North Bergen—January 9, 2015) High Tech’s Aaleah Oliver, a resident of Secaucus, won the school-wide competition of the 2015 Poetry Out Loud competition at the North Hudson Center, and now, she advances to the Region 6 Championship, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Oliver recited “Truth” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Thoughtless Cruelty” by Charles Lamb.  Along with Oliver, Kaylynn Montgomery of Jersey City, Union City resident Emily Fung, and Anna Rezk of Bayonne also participated.  Montgomery tried her hand at “America” by Claude McKay and “Dirge in Woods” by George Meredith.  Fung chose “Zacuanpapalotls” by Brenda Cardenas and “Sonnet 15:  When I Consider Everything That Grows” by William Shakespeare.  Rezk recited “Beautiful Wreckage” by W.D. Ehrhart and “Love Lives beyond the Tomb” by John Clare.

Oliver will participate in the Region 6 Championship, which includes students from the counties of Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic.  The competition takes place on Monday, February 2^nd at BergenPAC in Englewood.  

This year’s competition marks the 10^th anniversary of Poetry Out Loud. For further information on this terrific contest, please go to www.poetryout loud.org. 

County Prep Students Participate in Lock-in

On November 21st at County Prep High School, 130 Students in grades 9-12 participated in a school wide lock-in. From 9:30 pm to 6:30 am the next day students participated in activities that included a basketball tournament, volleyball tournament, and video game tournament. For entertainment purposes there were movies playing in the ITV room. By the kindness of Mr.Josiah and his team there were refreshments and food readily available throughout the night. Many staff members dedicated their time to chaperoning the event. Students' feedback was very positive and they are eagerly awaiting another one. 

Hydroponics at County Prep High School

Over the course of the 2013 – 2014 school year, County Prep Administration along with science instructors Dr. Szymanski and Mr. La Volpe met with members of New York Sun Works to discuss the possibility of building a Hydroponic Greenhouse at County Prep High School. While the Greenhouse Project at County Prep is still in the developmental stages, NYSW members assisted with upgrading and enhancing the existing hydroponic lab by adding one Crop King NFT system, one JP+ Tower Garden, and revamping the pre-existing aquaponics system. This is NYSW’s first project outside of New York and the first in New Jersey.  

In mid-November, the hydroponic classes were able to produce its first harvest of the year, yielding crops such as pumpkin flowers, kale, collard greens, bib lettuce, red lollo lettuce, oak leaf lettuce, and pesto basil. Dr. Szymanski and Mr. La Volpe teamed up with Chef Delesky in the Culinary Arts Department. Together, they were able to provide the students with a culinary experience called “From Farm to Table.” Using the kale and collard greens, Chef and the students whipped up tempura battered pumpkin flowers, vegetarian kale soup, chorizo-kale soup, and sautéed collard greens with chorizo.  

Dr. Szymanski and Mr. La Volpe would like to thank the HCST Administration and County Prep Administration along with NYSW members Manuela Zamora, Executive Director, Sidsel Robards, Director of Program Development, and Ashley King, Greenhouse Project Manager.

New York Sun Works is a non-profit organization that promotes urban sustainability and innovative global climate solutions using science education through their Greenhouse Project initiative. Their state of the art hydroponic greenhouse labs aim to provide schools with a 21^st century outlook for environmental science that fosters hands-on learning through sustainable urban farming.

CPHS Hydropoincs Page >>

HCSTF Donates AM/FM Radios to the JDC Residents

Dear Mr. Mattei:

On behalf of the Hudson County Schools of Technology Foundation, we are pleased to
inform you that our leadership board has officially approved your grant proposal of
$598.00 to help fund for AM/FM portable electronic devices.

As an organization determined to support educational opportunities for HCST students,
we are committed to helping our students, faculty and staff reach their academic and
personal goals through innovative and creative educational initiatives. We thank you
and commend your continued dedication to the HCST learning community.

We wish you and your students a productive and enlightening experience. Should you
have any questions, please contact Linda J. Quentzel at 201.662.6794 or
lquentzel@hcstonline.org.

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Freeholders Approve Funding for HTHS Facility in Secaucus

December 22, 2014 (North Bergen, NJ) –The Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders has approved measures to secure $160 million in funding for a new High Tech High School. The financial support from County Executive Thomas A. DeGise and the Freeholders was an essential piece of building the new school, a project that will help transform the Hudson County Schools of
Technology (HCST) community.

Daniel Gans, HCST Foundation Board President, applauds the collaboration. “The approval of this ordinance is a major step in the realization of a school that will service students throughout Hudson
County with an unparalleled state of the art facility,” says Gans.

“We thank our County Executive, the Freeholders and the HCST Board of Education Members for their support and congratulate all those who have worked so hard to make this happen,” continues Mr. Gans. “We at the HCST Foundation look forward to giving our continued support for this school and the other schools in the HCST family that will remain in Jersey City".

HCST Board Of Education President Craig Guy says, “The passing of this ordinance brings the District closer to its goals of 21st Century education. This is true progress for the community.”

Mr. Frank Gargiulo, Superintendent of the Hudson County Schools of Technology, is thankful for the ordinance’s approval. “I want to thank each person who has supported this endeavor,” says Gargiulo. “The backing from the County Executive, the Freeholders and my Board of Education Members ensure for our students a new learning environment, one that will enhance our ability as a district to make each student successful.”

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