The High School for Math Science and Engineering City College

The High School for Math Science and Engineering @ City College 138 Convent Avenue, New York, New York 10031 tel: 212-281-6918 fax: 212-281-6918 HSMSE PTA NEWSLETTER November 2007

UPCOMING HSMSE EVENTS:  Principal William Dugan is inviting parents to a Town Hall Meeting. Any and all topics related to HSMSE are welcome -- there is no pre-set agenda, and there are no time constraints. Bring your questions and your issues. The Town Hall Meeting will be held in Baskerville Hall on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1pm.  Time to turn your clocks back. November 4 Daylight Savings Time ends.  Tuesday November 6 the School is Closed for Election Day.  Monday November 12 the School is Closed for Veterans Day.  Our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday November 13 @ 6:30PM in Baskerville Hall – 8.  School Dance to be held in the CCNY ballroom on Friday November 19 from 6-9:30pm. Cost is $5 and 100 pre dance tickets must be sold to hold the dance. Further details will be announced shortly.  The Barnes & Noble book fair benefiting HSMSE is November 19. HSMSE will have kids performing- be there!! Start preparing your gift list and tell your friends to do the same!  School is Closed November 22 and 23 for Thanksgiving.  Friday November 30 is the end of the 2nd marking period.  The deadline to apply for the Science and Engineering Fair @ CCNY is Friday November 30. (see scholarships below)  Meet the Teachers- Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday evening December 6.

SENIOR ANNOUNCEMENTS:  Senior Trip - All deposits are in. Any seniors still wishing to go on senior trip may still submit a deposit but will not be guaranteed a place. The senior trip will be held at Fallsview, an all inclusive resort, with 1 day of skiing at Holiday Ski mountain.  Senior Prom - All senior Prom deposits are now due. $50 for 1 ticket deposit or $100 for senior and guest deposit. The Senior Prom will be held at Water's Edge Restaurant in Long Island City, Queens.  Senior Fundraiser - a fundraising package has been distributed to all interested seniors. Students can sell gift items and will receive a debit to their senior dues for any items sold. All fundraising money and forms must be returned by November 28th.  SENIOR PARENTS: If you have any thoughts, ideas or concerns relating specifically to the Senior Class of 2008 please contact your Class Grade Rep, Nan Siegmund at [email protected] or 917-701-1194.

JUNIOR ANNOUNCEMENTS  Junior Dinner Dance Cruise - The Juniors are proposing a Dinner Dance/Junior Prom boat cruise for a Friday in May 2008. The cost of the Junior Prom will be approx $70 for one person. Further details with a deposit date will be announced shortly.

FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE NOTES  Did you know each class has a Parent Representative? We are still looking to fill the position in the Freshman and Sophomore classes. To volunteer please contact Betsy at [email protected]. 1 NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY:  The NHS ARCADE NIGHT was a huge success! Over 80 students showed up to play various video games such as Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Halo 3, etc. A snack bar was provided with baked goods supplied by NHS members. NHS raised $774 for World Vision and will be sponsoring a "Hope Child" to provide food and essentials to a child who has been affected by HIV/AIDS.  Principal Dugan reminds parents and students that HSMSE is judged on the attendance record. September’s rate was 97%. Attendance tends to fall on ½ days and days prior to vacations. Remember that ½ days of school count as 1 day of school. Please have your child in school!  Please return the School Lunch forms whether or not you are applying for free lunch. The school gets extra money in their budget for the number of forms returned.  Parents, please urge your children to check the "opportunities" bulletin board (it's right next to the school secretary's office across from the teacher's room). There are scholarship, science fair, and poster opportunities that the students can take advantage of.  PARENTS: To contact other parents, please join our free Yahoo email group. Email to: Hsmse_pta- [email protected] It is very important for all parents to put their email address into the database to receive special announcements sent out by the Class Parents. The PTA does not have the ability to make automatic phone calls to everyone, and can only send postal mail notices once in a while when the newsletter goes out. The email list is the only way that urgent and grade-specific notices will get to parents in a timely way.  Parents please review and update or add your contact information in the PTA database by browsing to: http://www.hsmse-pta.org/parent. This page will allow you to set up a secure private login that lets you see and change the information the PTA has about you and your child.  If you have questions or the web page does not work for you, please email [email protected] for technical support.  Anyone wishing to submit ideas to the newsletter please email Kris Frederick at [email protected]. Relevant submissions will be included.

DOES YOUR CHILD NEED COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS?  The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children (www.womenscommission.org), a non- profit located in mid-town (42nd St and Lexington Ave.) would be interested in having HSMSE student volunteers. We work on behalf of refugee women, children and youth. Call 212-551-3115 or email [email protected].  Community Lunch at Advent Lutheran Church, 93rd St. and Broadway, Manhattan. Every 4th Saturday. Volunteers report at 10am and plan to stay until 2pm. Lunch is included.  Other websites to check out for students looking for places to volunteer: www.operationsmile.org www.dosomething.org/volunteer

SCHOLARSHIPS:  For contests and internships please contact Mr. Hesse.  Juniors and others should continue working towards the 2009 Intel Science Talent Scholarships. Here's a link to the contest site: http://www.sciserv.org/sts/students/index.asp. Generous scholarships go to winners.  ExploraVision Science Competition- www.exploravision.org - Students, please seriously consider joining this contest. Everyone gets a little prize and a certificate just for entering. You can enter as a team and split the writing of the 10 page (maximum) report. It's COOL! Now in its 16th year, ExploraVision is a North American science competition sponsored by Toshiba and administered by the National Science Teachers Association. It encourages K-12 students to

2 create and explore a vision of a future technology Each student on four first-place teams will receive a $10,000 Savings and a trip to Washington, D.C. Here's the challenge: Pick and research a technology, then explore what it could be 20 years from now. Are there problems modern technology has yet to solve? Are there practical solutions to everyday problems we've yet to consider? Imagination is crucial for this competition.  New York City Science and Engineering Fair – February 2 – 3, 2008- Students should participate in this science fair. Science Fairs are a good idea, and the contest is held right here at CCNY. This event is good for the school and our kids. The New York City Department of Education Science and Engineering Fair will be hosted this year by the City University of New York (CUNY). The first round of the Fair will take place at City College during the weekend of February 2-3, 2008 with judging occurring on February 3, 2008. Application deadline is Friday, November 30, 2007 with the submission of the completed research paper on Friday, January 11, 2008. The application, rules and regulations and other pertinent information can be found at http://collegenow. cuny.edu/ sciencefair. For any further information or to answer any questions, please contact Denise McNamara at dmcnama@schools. nyc.gov.

HOW CAN YOU HELP THE HSMSE PTA?  Marketing Advice Needed- The PTA would like to put together a marketing plan. The goal is to help ensure that the strongest possible students choose HSMSE as their specialized high school. If any parents have marketing experience, or can recommend marketers and PR professionals, please contact PTA Co-President April Feffer at [email protected].  Grant-Writer(s) Needed- If any parents have experience writing grant proposals, or can recommend someone with experience, please contact PTA Co-President April Feffer at [email protected]. There are many grants out there that HSMSE is qualified to receive, and we want to be in a position to apply for them.  Corporate Matching- Please check to see if your company offers corporate matching for donation. The PTA has a general recommendation that parents donate about $300 a year to the school to help fund student and teacher activities. Many companies will match up to half a donation by a parent. The school has the proper tax id information. To get the info for matching funds forms, contact PTA co-President Betsy Armstrong at [email protected] or PTA Treasurer Bruce Gressin - [email protected].

 The PTA is asking each family to make a contribution of $300 (or whatever you are able to give) to the HSMSE PTA. Funds will be used for enriching the experience our students will have at MSE. SAT Prep, after school clubs, school trips, teacher development, graduation, yearbook, communication, and social functions are a few of the ways the money will be spent. Checks can be made payable to HSMSE PTA and mailed to HSMSE PTA @ City College 138 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031. Any amount is greatly appreciated.

 Reminder: Cell phones and used ink cartridges can be recycled AND benefit the school. Bring your used ones to the PTA meeting or call Cecilia 212-691-0332 to arrange drop off through backpack mail.  Wanted: Willing people to help organize a PTA event. You can suggest your own idea or choose a standing event. We have suggestions for a dance, a mystery party and spring festival. Events can be held in any borough. Please contact April at [email protected] or Betsy at [email protected].  Of course you have a special talent. You can stuff envelopes. Maybe you can you write a grant proposal? Or maybe putting together a meal for the teachers to show our appreciation is more on your alley? You will be amazed at the volunteer opportunities available for us lucky parents at HSMSE - Our kids receive a high standard education in a public city school and we can give back with our time and skills. To volunteer contact April at [email protected] or Betsy at [email protected].  All our students need 200 hours of community service. Do you have an organization that can use volunteers? Send us your contacts and we will publicize them so that students can reach their goals and assist your organization. Contact Kris Frederick @ [email protected] to submit your organization’s need in the next PTA newsletter. 3 IT IS GETTING CHILLY- TIME FOR THE HSMSE SWEATSHIRT! Please contact Mr. Carey in NAC Room 4/146A if you wish to purchase clothing.

Hoody $35 T-Shirt $10 Bag $10 All 3 $45

IMPORTANT HSMSE PTA CONTACT INFORMATION PTA Officers Fall 2007 Co-Presidents: April Feffer [email protected] Betsy Armstrong [email protected] Treasurer: Bruce Gressin [email protected] Corresponding Secretary: Deirdre Wyeth [email protected] Recording Secretary: Cecilia Tornaghi [email protected] Newsletter: Kris Frederick [email protected] . Parent Representatives: Seniors: Nan Siegmund [email protected] Juniors: Manon Ruiz [email protected]

– Minutes October 16, 2007

After the meeting was called to order, the September minutes were distributed to the assembly and discussed. Item authorizing funds for Specialized Schools Convention in DC was not necessary, Mr. Dugan explained the event was fully booked before the deadline and the school was not able to register. September minutes were approved.

PTA Co–president April Feffer presents Ms. Fazio’s request for PTA funds to finance the enrollment fees for a teacher event in San Diego. The assembly approved. Next month PTA meeting will feature the HSMSE website. Open house on October 22 needs parent volunteers – 6 to 8 in the Great Hall October 17 PSAT starts at 8am. School’s safety plan passed two levels of DOE scrutiny Thanks to all the families that came to the Picnic!! Uniforms – Mr. Carey is still discussing the issue with Anaconda

Principal’s report – Mr. Dugan is studying an open forum, Town Hall style for parents, students to have open discussions with the school. Probable date is November 3rd at 1:30pm. - There are 26 applicants for the Parent Coordinator position – a committee (volunteers) will be necessary to select candidates. - For Open House for prospective families on Oct 22nd the school needs as many parent and student volunteers as possible. Parents want to know what current parents think of the school, and students want to ask the current students about the school. Event starts at 6pm, volunteers if possible arrive at 5:30. 4 - Newsletter was mailed and was also posted on the school website. - PSAT on Oct 17th for Juniors and Sophomores. - October 26th is a half day - Attendance in September reached 97% – taking days off makes a big difference on the school’s standing - Guest speakers on Alcohol Awareness: the school is negotiating with a comedy club that works with teens – school may not be able to pay in which case Mr. Dugan asks if PTA would support the event picking up the $500 tab, but it may not be necessary. Another guest is Dr. Nora Volkow – director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse which is a division of the National Institute on Health National Institute Drug Abuse – she was featured in Time Magazine and other media – there will be a forum with her and 25 students from each grade. - Mr. Dugan explains that the school had purchased jerseys for the teams, but in the last 2 years coaches had asked the teams to buy their own- but after the soccer team incident (obs: jerseys were not delivered and team was kept out of a game for lack of uniforms) the school will keep the policy of owning the uniforms. HSMSE will order new jerseys for the teams, including volleyball and soccer, and the school will own them.

Guest speaker Eleonore Dugan talks to the assembly about People to People National Educational Travel Program – a private organization that was founded by Eisenhower after WWII to encourage young Americans to get to know other people and cultures and foment peace. The program is paid and interested students have to be nominated by a teacher or representative and follow a program followed by a trip to different regions in the world.

Motion moved to approve funds for Drug Abuse program – assembly approved $500 budget.

JSA (Junior Statesmen of America) club is in the process of presenting their trip request, but did not have final numbers to make request. Discussion ensued considering funding same amount as last year. Discussion followed on whether the request could even be discussed since it was not presented officially, Student representative made a short presentation to the assembly as to what JSA is. Motion was moved and approved to fund the same amount as last year.

Special Guest Speaker Mr. Wade Klein, guidance counselor for Juniors and Seniors started the College Night presentation. As Mr. Klein explained, all information is in the handbook which all Seniors should have a hard copy, but that is also available online, on the school website. The handbook is updated every year, but other grades can check it out online for a peak on what is ahead. Some highlights of the presentation:

- SUNY and CUNY applications come first – Nov. - Make it personal: make contact with admissions, teachers, visit the colleges, tell your story - Follow the deadlines on the handbook – Counselor needs all applications in by Dec 1st to spend the rest of the month doing his part. - Schools are getting to know HSMSE, name is getting out. A lot of Ivy League acceptances. - Mr. Klein can help families with Financial Aid forms. Form cannot be submitted before Jan 1st; it has to be after tax return; it is better if it is done as early as possible in the beginning of the year. - There will be a Spring College meeting guided towards Juniors.

Meeting adjourned.

NEXT MEETING - NOVEMBER 13 – HSMSE WEBSITE: Baskerville Hall – 8 Where is the homework? How do I find information? Have your questions answered!!