Four High Tech Students Cited in National Hispanic Recognition Program

(St. Peter, MN—March 17, 2016) Four High Tech High School students scored in the top 2.5% on the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT©), based on regional results from among Hispanic and Latino test-takers, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

The following young scholars have been invited to participate in the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP): Bayonne resident Sophia Velasquez, Juan Meza and Gabriella Navas of Jersey City, and North Bergen resident Malena Rodriguez.

Each year, the NHRP recognizes approximately 5,000 of the 250,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT©.

Totally free of charge, participation in the NHRP enables students to highlight their outstanding academic achievements on college and university applications.   Although not a scholarship, the NHRP does allow institutions of higher learning to identify those academically exceptional Hispanic/Latino students all across America.

From left to right: Malena Rodriguez, Sophia Velasquez, Juan Meza, and Gabriella Navas

County Prep Students Participate in 2016 Harvard Model Congress

Model Government HMC 2016

The County Prep’s Model Government students descended upon Boston for the 2016 Harvard

Model Congress late last month.  Almost 1500 students from across the globe met for four days

to take part in a hands-on simulation of American Government, in fact the largest model

government simulation in the world.   As Senators, members of Congress, G20 members, and

even Presidential Cabinet Members, County Prep’s Model Government delegates crafted bills,

testified, lobbied, campaigned and voted on legislation aimed at tackling some of our Nation’s

current challenges and issues.

President Bill Clinton sums it up best, “Working to empower America’s youth,

preparing them to be the leaders and thinkers of the future, the Harvard Model

Congress has provided many of our country’s brightest scholars with invaluable

lessons in statecraft.”

One of County Prep’s delegates, Gerard Bello described his participation as “probably one of

the greatest experiences of my high school career. Not only did I get to travel to the great city

of Boston, but I got to discuss real world issues that are very passionate to me.”

All of County Prep’s Model Government students who attended HMC 2016 expressed similar

views.  It is an event that is educational, inspires civil discourse and allows for a great deal of

fun and interests while do so!
Check out our slideshow: https://goo.gl/kGeJFA

Three High Tech Students Recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Japanese Study

(Cranford, NJ—March 11, 2016) New Jersey Association of Teachers of Japanese (NJATJ) President Yoko Fukuda has awarded High Tech’s Anthony Chae and Keyu Sheng, both residents of Harrison, and North Bergen resident Cindy Wong this year’s Japanese Language and Culture Study Award, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Along with Chae, Sheng, and Wong, students of the High Tech Japanese Program attended the Japanese Language and Culture Study Award Ceremony, sponsored by NJATJ at the Orange Avenue School.  Yuka Fujino, the Consulate General of Japan in New York City, directed her congratulatory remarks to a group of fifty-five high school and college students honored at the Study Award Ceremony.

“I hadn’t really paid attention to Japanese culture,” claims Sheng, “before enrolling in my classes at High Tech.”  Sheng’s interest in Japanese “light novels,” a style of fiction primarily targeting young adults, and composed of usually no more than 50,000 words in length, served as the catalyst for Sheng to engross himself in the Japanese language.  By osmosis, he became an interested student of Japanese culture as well.

Following the speeches at the Study Award Ceremony, the High Tech Japanese Club treated the audience to an adaption of “The Fisherman’s Dance” (Soran Bushi), a traditional piece depicting the movement of ocean waves, rope pulling, and dragging nets, all emblematic of the hardscrabble life of men of the sea.  

“I’m very pleased with my students,” says Akemi Dobkin, veteran Japanese instructor at High Tech.  “My students have made great efforts in increasing their mastery of the [Japanese] language and in participating in [Japanese] culture.”

High Tech Junior Jose Flores ‘Captures the Human Condition’

‘Capturing the human condition’
16-year-old Guttenberg resident gains rep as street photographer

by Art Schwartz 

Hudson Reporter staff writer
March 20, 2016

High Tech High School junior Jose Flores had just gotten out of school on Wednesday, March 9, when he saw smoke rising in the distance and hurried over with a friend to check out what was going on. “Arriving at the scene, there were fire trucks storming in and out, and factory workers gazing upon the fire while others recorded the incident on their mobile phones,” he said.

The fire had broken out in an empty construction trailer near Walmart on Tonnelle Avenue. Firefighters spent a couple of hours putting it out, while Flores documented the incident in photos. But it wasn’t really the fire he was interested in. It was the people.

Flores, 16, has been shooting urban landscapes and candid portraits for a few years now, first on an iPhone and more recently on a DSLR camera. Adjusting the images in Photoshop, he began posting them online and building a reputation as a street photographer, which led to him working for Nike, Reebok, Wings Air Helicopters, Grado Headphones, and more.

“I enjoy using a wide angle,” said Flores. “I get really close and use an off-camera flash to get more dramatic. It creates a feel; the photo looks fabricated and also very real. It also has purpose because photographs capture fashion and how people look today. In a couple of decades they will look very different.”

Hitting the streets

“I like shooting people who stand out,” said Flores about how he developed his stark photojournalistic style. Getting into photography only a few years ago, he has evolved his technique considerably.

His introduction to photography was shooting videos on an iPhone in 2013. “At the skate park my friend asked if I could film this line,” or set of skateboard moves and tricks, he recalled. Flores taught himself to edit the videos but burned through a pair of cheap computers so he opted to switch to still photography, still using the phone.
_____________
“Street photography just feels like such a natural way for me to express my surroundings, what I grew up with, and my personality as a whole.” –Jose Flores
____________ “With skateboarding you learn the basics, then you put your flavor to it, your style, how you twist, how you land, where you put your arms,” he said, drawing a parallel with photography. “Skateboarding’s not a sport, it’s an expression. With the iPhone you’re forced to make something good out of something not so good. I was forced to learn composition.”

Expanding his subjects Flores began manipulating the images digitally and compositing them. “Compositing is when you take a cool sky and put it behind a building, plus a flock of birds so it looks poetic, then switch the colors so the clouds are really orange,” he said.

Shooting on rooftops and in abandoned locations, he posted the striking images online and built a strong following of fans. But he quickly felt restricted by the style and content.

Shoveling snow to get money, he bought a Canon Rebel t3i camera from Craigslist. “It’s like a tourist camera, entry level,” he said. “When I bought the camera the colors and how I edited started to change. And then the things I started to shoot started to change. When I found street photography it’s so different. You really put your own style on it.”

Inspired by the documentary Everybody Street about street photographers, Flores began focusing more on individuals in gritty environments. At first, “I tried way too hard to be ‘stealthy,’” he said. “It got boring too quickly using a zoom lens. I remember the first time though when I took a picture of someone right across them with flash, I instantly fell in love. I was forced to interact with who I was shooting. I wasn’t hiding anymore. Street photography just feels like such a natural way for me to express my surroundings, what I grew up with, and my personality as a whole, which in a way exudes out of the photos I take.”

Social passport

In addition to skateboarding, Flores was influenced heavily by music and graffiti culture. A bedroom guitarist who jams to Hendrix and Santana, he listens to a wide variety of bands from jazz to R&B to hardcore and identifies himself as straight edge.

“Hardcore people share the same ideas and have energy,” he said. “The lyrics preach positive mental attitude, PMA. With graffiti I started learning about their stories. It’s people who just like expressing themselves and the thrill of painting on the wall. With photography I feel that same thrill. I went to Jersey City and this guy started saying photography is the new graffiti. It’s democratized; anybody can get their hands on it. Like me.”

A lifetime resident of Guttenberg, Flores was inspired by street photographers like Bruce Gilden, Jill Freedman, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Bruce Davidson, and Boogie, who chronicled drug addicts, gangs, crime, and poverty. Nowadays he spends a lot of time in New York shooting the gritty underbelly of the city.

“There are a lot of characters on the street that people turn a blind eye to and don’t want to bother with them,” he said. “I’m kind of like the antithesis of that. I want to tell their stories. I want to find out about their life. I want to document them. There are a lot of crazy characters. You hear all these stories and it’s so inspiring. Every passerby has a life.”

He recalls one incident where he was followed by a questionable character into an alley while shooting. “I didn’t know if I was being robbed,” he said. Instead he struck up a conversation and wound up invited to shoot individuals holed up in a makeshift home made of scrap metal in midtown. “That was one of my favorite photo sets.”

“You have to know how to interact with these people,” he said. “A lot of people get mad at you and you have to learn how to make them not break your camera. I learned how to communicate with people from different backgrounds. I know how to talk to someone from an affluent position. I know how to act with someone who is struggling, and around fashion and addicts. It’s kind of like having a social passport.”

Flores has been working hard to get his name out there, “capturing the human condition,” as he puts it. And his work has brought numerous companies to his door. “I love doing professional work and seeing how my style incorporates in a commercial environment,” he said. “I love fashion stuff because I can get really weird and experimental.”

“I want to do what I love for the rest of my life,” he said. “Just keep evolving. Shooting things that aren’t really captured because people don’t want to take the risk.”

A sampling of Flores’s photographs can be viewed at josefloresnyc.tumblr.com or instagram.com/josefloresnyc.

Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.

Explore 2000 Student Showcase

Friendly Reminder:

Our Student Showcase is on Tuesday, March 22, 

from 9:00-10:30 AM.

Join our Gods and Goddesses for a 'Fashionably Late Runway Show', take a tour through ancient lands,

and discover how the engineering advancements of these civilizations are still present in our modern times.

The Explore 2000 Sewing Project

February 2016, students from County Prep High School’s Fashion Design Class shared a special project with the students of Explore 2000 Middle School for their Family Career Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Competition Focus on Children lesson.  Five dedicated individuals worked as a seamless team (no pun intended) to facilitate our 8th Grade Class with a “sewing project”.

Two high school Seniors, Mauli Maniar and Christine Jimenen, took the lead with the project; actively joined by Sophomores Lissette Hernandez, Jalzary Gutierrez and Leslie Santana.  The teacher team situated the students in a circular meeting style, each on a task table. With their well-developed plan, the teacher team explained their project, reviewed the materials then distributed them.  They taught the students how to sew and provided hands-on assistance and visual explanations throughout the project time.

We wish all of the students good luck on this competition.

Two of our student reviews:

The County Prep Fashion Design team did an excellent job of directing the 8th Grade students of Explore 2000. I thought that teaching kids how to sew was a great idea. I know how to hand sew already, so I was the first one done. If you finished early you got to add a button. You had a choice between a red heart and a brown football. You also have a chance to write on your heart or football. I hope the team comes back so we can make more stuff. –A. Ponce, 8th Grade

We had a few obstacles here and there, but they were always able to help us to come to a conclusion. My favorite part was when we finally finished making our footballs so that we could stuff it. It helps to learn the basics so I can at least sew a button when I need to. Sewing was time consuming, but it was actually fun at the same time. I learned that it also requires a lot of patience in order to get the best outcome. –C.Casavecchia, 8th Grade

I look forward to future collaborations with this team of teachers. They provided a unique learning opportunity for our students. We wish them much success with their FCCLA Competition.

Explore 2000 Middle School Alumna

Ivy Jane Dimaculangan is a proud alumni of HCST’s County Prep. In 2015, her senior year at County Prep High School, Ivy Jane interned for Explore 2000. While working for Explore 2000, she worked closely with the staff and faculty, getting to know the Explore 2000 family on a more personal level. She didn’t realize that by taking the internship, she would form friendships worth a lifetime.

Ivy Jane, 18 years old, is a freshman at Montclair State University, majoring in Linguistics with a minor in Speech Language Pathology/ Audiology. She dreams of becoming an Audiologist, looking forward to treating patients who have hearing and auditory disorders.

These days, Ivy Jane volunteers with her community’s Philippine Nurses Association as they host their monthly Free Health Screenings, providing screenings for blood pressure and glucose levels all paid for by the PNA. In addition, she has decided to be more active on campus by applying to be a Peer Advisor at Montclair State University for the Fall 2016/ Spring 2017 school year.

Ivy Jane is incredibly grateful to Ms. Lin-Rodriguez and the Explore 2000 family; without whom, she would not be as successful as she is today.

Twenty High Tech Students Reach Final Round of Judging in 2015-2016 Letters About Literature Contest

(Washington, D.C.—March 15, 2016) Out of almost 2,000 letters submitted from New Jersey in the 2015-2016 Letters About Literature contest, High Tech High School received notice that twenty students had been selected by judges for the final round at the state level, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

Letters About Literature received almost 2,000 letters from New Jersey students.  After two rounds of judging at the national level, seventy-four letters at the high school level qualified for at least two more rounds of judging at the state level.  Judges recognized twenty students from High Tech High School out of these seventy-four letters to advance to the final round of judging.  The following students have been recognized: 

Bayonne residents AnnMary Ibrahim, Mary Megali, Natalie Skibniewski, and Hannah Grace Tan; Nicole Lee of Guttenberg; Harrison resident Amal Joseph; Tahlia Cantatore and Natalie LoBue of Hoboken; Jersey City residents Antoinette Critelli, Alex Kim, and Thi Ly; Andrew Tran of Kearny; North Bergen residents Sarah Bacha, Genesis Cevallos, Cathryn Pace, Victoria Rivero, Stephanie Schwartz, Armando l. Alvarez Suarez, and Zhixiu Zheng; and Eleanore Woodruff of Weehawken.

Letters About Literature, a reading and writing contest for students in grades 4-12, asks each student to read a book, poem, or speech and compose a letter to the author (whether living or dead) about the ways that the author’s work affected that student personally. 

Contest judges at state and national levels choose from tens of thousands of letters gleaned from students all across the country.  The 2015-2016 Letters About Literature contest, made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, celebrates authors who have helped shape America and the world itself.

Three County Prep Students Win at Pingry School Photography Show

This year County Prep High School had 3 students receive a Judges Award from the Pingry School Photography show. 
This is the first year they had 3 winners:

Jagdish Patel - Tree

Karolina Minkiewicz - Out in the distance

Alexandra DeJesus - Touch of Gold

Congratulations to all of them!

                                                               
                                                                 Jagdish Patel - Tree

Karolina Minkiewicz - Out in the distance

Alexandra DeJesus - Touch of Gold

High Tech Dance Department Attends National High School Dance Festival

 

Explore 2000 Middle School Celebrates Black History Month

On February 12, 2016 Black History Month came to life at Explore 2000 Middle School. A buffet breakfast was set out for the visitors who seemed to enjoy it very much. Included were eggs, bacon. sausage, grits, fried chicken and more. Following the meal there was a video presentation of Black history in America.





A live presentation for all of the students, staff and guests followed. Many students wore red carnations to show that they were volunteers available to guide and assist the guests. Ms. Michele Jefferey, event coordinater began the assembly with a short talk, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Ruquiya Sabry and Alifa Amin. Lauralie Mufute sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Guests included Tony Goodson, Commander of VFW Post #2294 in Jersey City, Glen Flora, Commander of VFW Post #226 in Bayonne, Ms Lenora Brown, Ms Florence Holmes, Ms Pearl Jones, Ms Aleta Carter and Ms Pamela Gardner, County Clerk.

The Zuwati African Dancers demonstrated dances and costumes to the audience. They brought volunteers to the front of the room for a very exuberant dance lesson accompanied by a response sing along.

(After their own performances, they brought volunteers to the front of the room for a very exuberant dance lesson accompanied by a response sing along.)

Lauralie Mufute returned to sing a breathtaking version of "At Last" which truly honored singer Etta James. A game of Name That Sitcom entertained everyone. A description of a sitcom about African American characters was given by Luciano Dinguis and Jaheem Ellison and answers came from the panel of guests: Charles Matthews, Donald Brown, William Statham, Sullivan Johnson, Irving Peoples, and Kevin Williamson, the Director of the Jersey City Recreation Department. Prizes were awarded.

The day's celebration concluded with a wonderful performance by Jersey City's own Soul Generation, featuring Mr. Cliff Perkins and Cheryl Statham, soloist.

Other students who served as volunteers are: Laila Downing, Jianna Rodriguez, Madison Ragland, Zaynab Shaikh, Amanda Zweifler, Sarah Masoud, Faith Johnson, Yazan Baghdady, Marcus Reichart, Brianne Brown, Joanne Joshua, Amy Le, and Arianna Rodriguez.

Jersey City Medical Center/Barnabas Health STEM Showcase Medalists Include High Tech Students

From "JCMC/BH STEM Showcase Medalists Announced"
by Mark Ojutiku, Jersey Journal Staff Writer

The results are in for the Jersey City Medical Center/Barnabas Health STEM Showcase, held on Monday, February 29th.

About 300 Hudson County students showed up to the Liberty Science Center on Monday to compete in the 58th iteration of Hudson County's premier science fair, and now the medal winners have been officially selected and listed.

The high school gold medalists presented their projects in the second round or "super‑judging" round Wednesday, and from that group, two finalists will be chosen to represent the JCMC/BH STEM Showcase at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair this spring in Phoenix.

Finalists in the younger categories will also be chosen to advance to the Broadcom Masters competition in Washington D.C. in October.

Additional sponsors include Liberty Science Center, New Jersey City University, Fidelity Investments, and Comcast.

Special award recipients will be announced next week. The following winners will be recognized at an award ceremony on April 5 at New Jersey City University:

GOLD MEDAL: Kara Neal of Bayonne, a junior at High Tech High School, for "Does F. plasmid PsiB Effect E. coli Resistance Ampicillin in Resistant Strain?"

SILVER MEDAL: Fujia Ren of Secaucus, a junior at High Tech High School, for "One-Step Solution Process of Perovskite Solar Cells with High Efficiency and Flexibility."

BRONZE MEDAL: Bayonne residents Hasumi Hayashi, a junior at High Tech, and  Jessica Driscoll, a senior at High Tech, for "Effect of Varying Salinity and Biocatalysts on MFC Efficiency" and "Herbal Remedies to save Strawberries," respectively.

Also competing for High Tech: Bayonne resident Anna Flts, with the science fair project, "Effect of MWI on Microorganisms."

Explore 2000 Team Takes the Gold at the Hudson County Science Fair!

The results of the 58th Hudson County Science Fair are in and the Explore 2000 Middle School's second year team of Alexander Vogiatzis, Andrew Kibalo and George Vogiatzis has been awarded a gold medal for its project on smoking and the effects on the human body.

On February 29, The Liberty Science Center played host to hundreds of Hudson County students competing for awards in the Jersey City medical Center/Barnabas Health STEM Showcase. Sponsors included Liberty Science Center, New Jersey City University, Fidelity Investments and Comcast. Winners of the elementary and middle school category will receive award at a ceremony on April 5 at the New Jersey City University.

Finalists will be selected to move on to the Broadcom Masters competition in Washington D.C. in October.

Alexander Vogiatzis, Andrew Kibalo, George Vogiatzis consider their win as the high point of their time at Explore 2000 Middle School. They intend to continue working on science projects.

County Prep High School hosts Annual Volleyball Tournament

Bringing excitement and fun through a competitive event, County Prep High School hosted their annual volleyball tournament. From February 2nd to February 5th, students were invited to participate, watch, and join in on the head-to-head matches between six incredible teams put together by their own fellow schoolmates. Students took to the court for the title of 2015 Volleyball Tournament Champions. Starting off the week, preliminary games were held in order to find out who would go on to the semi-finals. “E-Team” claimed its victory in the semi-finals against the single Freshmen team “Team Freshies.” Moving forward, an invigorating championship match held between the two senior teams, “Team M’$” and “E-team”, would determine who would be crowned champion. A close, heart-racing game ended in “Team M’$” taking the trophy home and going on to play against County Prep High School staff members. A fun game against their own teachers ended in victory for “Team M’$” as well.

Special thanks to those who made the 2015 volleyball tournament a great success: Coordinator Diana Barrion for putting together a memorable experience for County Prep students; Lovelisa Vallacer for providing team jerseys from Chilltown Collective; Ghenaj Sanih and Patricia Ramirez for photographing and recording the whole tournament; and all the County Prep staff members who were involved.  

By: Laura Lindo, Snehal Patel, and Krishna Patel

County Prep’s Improvisation Class Performs in the Second Annual Jamboree

Only two weeks after our very successful run of Jekyll&Hyde, County Prep Theatre Arts improvisers performed in our second annual competitive improvisation event on February 12, 2016. The battling teams, Chaplin and the Stooges and Bad Biscuit competed in a series of improv games as part of a fundraiser for our theatre department. Although Bad Biscuit took the trophy this time around, defeating the reigning champions, all our performers won the hearts of our audience.

The show was hosted by Seniors Jose Lupianez and Joshua Dunn, who were also representatives of the competing teams. As usual, the show was created with audience participation. The audience picked places, relationships, movie titles, everyday activities, gave quotes from movies to be integrated in the games, and received sports related gifts in return. Sophomores Brianna Zdyb and Stephanie Galarza cheered for the teams and Giancarlo Miranda played the role of a very serious referee.


Bad Biscuit competed with Seniors Joshua Dunn, Aylissia Tatum, Lizzie Flores, Samantha Killion, Sophomores Julio Velazquez and Quinton Casillas, and Freshman Sirena Morales. Chaplin and the Stooges competed with Seniors Jose Lupianez, Jonathan Dunn, Juniors Alyssa Massa, Kailyn Vazquez, Joshua Vazquez, and Sophomores Matthew Riccardi, and Matthew Cassavecchia.

The two teams took turns in winning the applause of the audience in games such as Getting to Know You, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Sportscasters, Monologues, Movie Critics, Master and Servant, Taxi, What Are you Trying to Say?, Director, Dubbing, and Scenes From A Hat. While Joshua and Jose were trying to outplay and out sing each other, by bringing up various antics throughout the show, the audience had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it.

Finally in the end the teams battled it out in the game Scenes from a Hat, where each team had to come up with fast creative ways of joking about random topics. After a nail-biting run, the audience decided and Bad Biscuit took the second Annual Jamboree trophy. Ms. Shields is extremely proud of her extraordinary creative improvisers as well as the technical crew of the evening; student sound and lighting technicians, Julianna Yeung and Shannon Murphy, and house managers Jessica Camano, Jahn Camac and Kyle Velazquez. Thank you all performers and crew for such an amazing performance!

View Article and Improv videos on CPHS website >>

County Prep Students Participate in Junior Achievement Finance Park Program

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, approximately 58 County Prep students participated in a financial literacy program entitled “Finance Park” sponsored by Junior Achievement. County Prep students were privileged to visit Junior Achievement's brand new state-of-the-art facility located in Edison, NJ.  The students engaged in an intensive, high-energy immersion learning experience in which they received a fictional life situation and created a balanced monthly budget.  The activities reinforced NJ’s Core Curriculum Content Standards while focusing on important elements of money management and career exploration.  The event boosted the students’ confidence in making smart academic and economic decisions.  

Student Testimonials:  

“I learned that my parents do a lot for me as far as paying for my food and clothes and all my luxuries and my basketball. This will help in the future when planning my budget!” – Cody

“Today, I learned the importance of planning ahead to better secure my future financial status.” – Genniel

“I learned that life is going to get more stressful and harder as you grow up. There are going to be the good things and sad things. It’s a lot of work handling money and budgeting but you just gotta hang in there.” – Emily

“I learned how to manage money and how to save and invest in things that can be valuable in the future!” - Makaylah

“I learned about the importance of budgeting your money and how it’s important to spend money on necessities first than luxuries.” - Delana

“I enjoyed the experience, and I hope in the future I get better at managing my finances.” – Jadan

“I learned that once you have a family you need to budget even more to fit yours and their needs!” – Maria