Visiting the National Constitution Center

         On October 9, the students of Explore 2000 took a trip to Independence Mall in Philadelphia to visit the National Constitution Center. It is the first and only institution in America established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.” After a day of interactive exhibits, historic artifacts and lessons on the Constitution, some of the students wrote about their appreciation of the experience.

        

 Dear Constitution Center,

         Thank you for having us as your guests at the Constitution Center. We had so much fun there. I thought it was so cool that there were life size statues made of copper in Signer’s Hall. In the beginning of the trip we did a quiz\trivia. Which was my favorite part of the time being there. Overall everyone in our school loved the field trip so much. It was great!!!!!!!!

Reagan - 6th Grader Explore 2000 Middle School

I am really thankful to go to this trip. I say it is amazing. We were involved in a lot of things during this field trip. First, my class did went to a auditorium to learn about the amendments. This part was interactive, which made it fun! Next, we got to go to a place with statues of our Founding Fathers of America it was about 36 statues. I was amazed because they looked life-like. After, that we got to see the writing of the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We then saw a play about “We the People.’’ It was a beautiful presentation about our Founding Fathers and the sacrifices and battles they fought for our freedom. I wish we can go back soon, because I really enjoyed this field experience. Thank you!

Youssef - 6th Grader Explore 2000 Middle School

     We really appreciate you guys for letting us tour the Constitution Center. I never had an experience like this before. It really showed how much you care for students’ education. I learned many things. One thing I learned is of course the Bill of Rights. I’ve learned more about the amendments than just sitting in the classroom and discussing the amendments. Before I went to this trip, I barely knew anything about the amendments. When I say that, I mean the number of amendments. There are 27 amendments, however the first 10 are called the Bill of Rights. I saw statues of people in the past such as, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson etc. This field experience led me to a better education than I already had. I loved this experience better than I’ve expected. It was awesome!!

Ruqiya - 6th Grader Explore 2000 Middle School

The Constitution Center was an absolute blast! No doubt about it. My class went to the Constitution Center, and it was so much fun. We learned about the Constitution’s purpose and importance. We also saw some realistic statues of most of the delegates that attended the Constitution Convention and signed the actual Constitution document. Then we saw an (almost) exact replica of the Constitution. We also looked at about 12 or more Bill of Rights Amendments that weren’t added to the Bill of Rights. I have learned a lot from this trip, and I hope others will too.

Amy - 6th Grader Explore 2000 Middle School

On October 9th, Explore 2000 went on an exciting field experience to the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Let’s just say it was a historical “ball.” We got to see life size statues of what the men who signed the constitution might have looked like. It sort of looked like a scene from the movie Night at the Museum. We also had to take a mini quiz, which tested our knowledge on the bill of rights. We sat in a theater and had clickers in our hands. We used the clickers to input our answers to the questions on the screen. It was actually a fun quiz. At the end of the day, we realized how important our Constitution is and how chaotic our country would be without it.  

Lorey - 6th Grader Explore 2000 Middle School

Explore 2000 Reflects on New Beginnings

        On October 7, the Explore 2000 community gathered to reflect on the school's history, mission and move to their new building. The student leaders for each group presented original speeches about their personal views of Explore 2000. The speakers shared their experiences and how the differences between their former schools and their current school have influenced them and helped them find new ways to succeed.
         Willie Montanez, one of the second year representatives, spoke of his feeling of being accepted and the increased enthusiasm for learning that Explore 2000 has given him. His fellow students responded to his speech enthusiastically.

     

        Representing the third year class, Christopher Casavechia spoke of the place that Explore 2000 has in his life. He spoke of the privilege of attending a school with interesting field experiences and educational experiences and of how it helps him to picture his future as he starts his final year at the middle school.

        All of the presenters shared their appreciation of the learning experiences they have each day and of the welcoming atmosphere they enjoy together. They expressed the excitement of having a building just for their school and how they look forward to the expansion and adventures they will see.

Celebrating the Week of Respect at Explore 2000

The first week of October was the Week of Respect and Explore 2000 celebrated in several ways. Each day, students and staff wore a color to show one of the pillars of respect.

Monday was purple day to remind the Explore 2000 community of Citizenship. On Tuesday, red showed Caring. Wednesday was orange day for Fairness and Thursday everyone wore green and/or yellow for Responsibility and Respect.

On Wednesday, the students spent the morning on a group project with the theme “What respect means to me.” The groups worked to create skits, poems, songs, stories, demonstrations and other presentations to show aspects of respectful behavior. Third year students split up to work with the first and second year students as leaders on their projects and to take part in the presentations. At 10:15, the school met in the gym for the presentations.

As performers and as audience, everyone participated energetically, supportively and very respectfully.

County Prep Environmental Science Class Visits Liberty State Park

On October 15, 2015, Mrs. Rose’s Environmental Science class took their first field experience of the year to Liberty State Park. Students learned a lesson at the Hudson River estuary in Jersey City with the help of two naturalists, Sara Jane and Alex. The fourteen students donned chest waders and seined the estuary for living specimens. What they found was amazing: an entire school of silversides was captured and then later released after inspection. The students also caught striped bass, blue finned crabs and a Florida Pampano, usually only found in Florida.

While walking the beach, the students had to identify ten Atlantic Ocean mollusk bi-valve shells, which included Atlantic Oysters, Tritons Trumpet, Mussels, Clams, and Horse Shoe crabs.

Students also participated in an on-beach lab of chemical testing. The tests included water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, and pH. After further study the estuary was deemed extremely healthy.

County Prep AV Production Students Celebrate Respect Week

To honor this year’s Respect Week, Ms. Pica’s Audio Visual Production class took on the task of creating videos expressing what respect means to them. County Prep Seniors, Jeymmy Cuevas, Brianna Pitchford and Anthony Rios were inspired by the “It’s On Us” campaign sponsored by President Barack Obama. “It’s On Us” is a public awareness and educational campaign created to advance the goal of preventing sexual assault. It aims to fundamentally shift the way you think about sexual assault by inspiring everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something- big or small- to prevent it. The video sends a powerful message starring County Prep teachers, students, and Ms. Mendolla.

If you would like to find out more about the “It’s On Us” campaign, please visit itsonus.org.

County Prep History Instructor Appears on C-SPAN with the John and Abigail Adams Program

County Prep History Instructor Thomas Calvanico attended the John and Abigail Adams Program this summer with other high school teachers. Please tune in October 24th to CSPAN for a lecture he attended, "Lectures in History: John and Abigail Adams During the American Revolution." From C-SPAN, "Historian Joseph Ellis leads a seminar for high school teachers on the early years of the Revolutionary War through the letters of John and Abigail Adams. The class at Amherst College is hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History."

For a preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUAbjctDG0c&feature=youtu.be


For complete schedule, please visit: http://www.c-span.org/series/?ahtv

Miguel Gonzalez’s High Tech Social Studies Class Examines Ancient Cultures and Architecture by Cathryn Pace

(North Bergen—October 20, 2015) For the past month, High Tech Social Studies instructor Miguel Gonzalez introduced his students to ancient cultures and architecture, from which they constructed projects that incorporated their knowledge and creativity, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech. 

Gonzalez screened Graham Hancock’s documentary, Quest for the Lost Civilization, for his students.  From this documentary, students learned about Hancock’s anthropological and archeological theories, from which Gonzalez charged his class with the project of recreating the ancient monuments that Graham had visited.

To replicate Ancient Egyptian architecture, students recreated the Temple of Osiris, the Great Giza Pyramids, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, and, probably the most famous monument of all, the Great Sphinx.

Students also visited the United Kingdom and France, by way of Stonehenge, the Callanish Stones, the Uffington White Horse, and the Carnac stones, respectively.

To commemorate Hancock’s sojourn to Micronesia, students recreated the Nan Madol, the lost civilization of Pohnpei; the temple of Nan Dowas; and the notorious Easter Island statues.

To replicate Mexico, students recreated magnificent Chichen Itza, La Venta, and Teotihuacan.

Students also replicated Cambodia’s Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat.

And last, but certainly not least, students commemorated Hancock’s visit to Bolivia by reconstructing in the classroom the Sun Gate of Tiahuanaco.

For more information concerning this fascinating and wonderful project, please contact Miguel Gonzalez at mgonzale1@hcstonline.org