Thank you to all the parents who came out for Parent Teacher Conferences last night. I had a great time meeting and talking with you guys. I hope we can all get together again soon sometime in the near future. Maybe a parents breakfast or luncheon or even a parent night with some kind of special event attached like fitness night, or dinner and a movie, or even just a get together to talk with fellow parents.
What a tremendous night we had here at Halsey JHS 157 on Tuesday, May 16th, 2017. Our Choral Director Ms. Shikowitz and her talented group of students put on some performance at the Spring Chorus Concert. I’m still singing some of the songs in my head. As a matter of fact I’m still singing that “Oh My God” song from the Legally Blonde musical too.
One of the things that stands out to me the most, above and beyond the beautiful voices, the dancing, & the natural talent is the sense of accomplishment. The building of self-esteem and self-pride is so important in the development of our young generation. We need to stay positive and keep pushing the belief that our children can accomplish anything they set their hearts to with hard work and determination.
Our NYSSMA group had an amazing showing at the NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) evaluation last Friday. They received the highest rating, a gold with distinction medal. This is the second year that the group has received this rating, even though this year they moved up a level of difficulty!
We are in the process of forming a Nomination Committee to elect the next PTA Executive Board. The nomination committee was discussed at the PTA meeting last night. We do have some wonderful parents who would like to run for seats on the Executive Board as well as parents who want to be a support system for our upcoming school year. The elections will take place on Thursday, June 15th 2017 at the next PTA meeting. The fun begins at 7pm. Please consider running for the PTA.
There will also be two (2) seats open on SLT (School Leadership Team) for parents to join. Made up of representatives from the administration, the teachers, and elected members of the parent body, the SLT is directly involved in reviewing how the school allocates its resources and in determining how those resources should be used in subsequent years. SLT members also concern themselves with the school’s curriculum. The election to fill these two seats will take place at the June 15th PTA meeting.
Please read on for more information about the PTA and SLT upcoming elections.
Congratulations to Mrs. Elfers and her students for their participation in Games For Change. Games for Change has launched the second annual G4C Student Challenge in NYC, Pittsburgh, and Dallas, where students will make games about real-world issues.
Students in 7th and 8th grade Computer/SEP talent classes participated in a project called Games For Change that challenged them to create a Serious Game to address one of the topics that address social issues which included either: Climate Change, Future Cities, or Immigration. This challenge was incorporated into the SEP curriculum that included learning the Design Process, Game Design, Studying and Analyzing Serious Games and creating their own Serious Games to address their topic of interest.
Teams consisted of 3-4 members. Five of our teams were chosen as Finalists to compete at the Games for Change Student Challenge Awards and Arcade at Museum of the Moving Image on Saturday, June 10th from 4PM to 6:30PM. Winners will be announced onstage and prizes will be awarded.
Congratulations to the following students that are finalists in their Middle School Category/Topic
- Cleaning The City – Amar Maksumic, Ben Buxton, Nafim Hossain & Jeffrey Wong (8T2)
- Surviving on an Island – Tanat Sahta, Michele Matatov, Abdhul Djalilov, & Matthew Wong (8T2)
- Escape from Syria – Daniel Kogan, Eric Chen, Brian G, Joshua Jordan (8T1)
- Stop Polar Pollution – Jason Gurchiani, Eisuke Hirota, Zaria Gorakh (8T2)
- Pablo the Immigrant – Jonathan Rubinov, Griffin Gomez, Kyle Gatinao, Darlin Rodriguez. (8T2)
Congratulations to our extraordinary Band teacher Mrs. Wolff and her talented students who competed in the NYSSMA Major Organizations Festival. The students played extremely well and earned a Silver Rating!
The Spring Band Concert is coming up next on Thursday, May 25th 2017. Doors open at 6:45 pm and the concert will begin at 7:00 pm.
Congratulations to the Select Chorus for being accepted into the Queens Borough Arts Festival! The students were selected after a competitive audition process, and filled one of the two slots open for performers. The event will be held at the Queens Museum from 5:00-8:00 PM on May 23rd. Come and see them perform towards the beginning of the festival. No tickets needed!