Science Park High School 260 Norfolk Street, Newark, NJ 07103 Volume 3, Edition 2 December 2011 Holiday Service at SPHS By Kevin Hernandez and Monserrath Salas ‘Tis the season to be…compas- like to help. She also considered the fact that the always looking to support different causes, so the sionate. This is the time of year we “kids at event flyers for this event were put up relatively late, Toy Drive not only coincided with the time of year, heart” love. There is a week of vacation from and perhaps the students had not seen them early but with the mission of the NHS in general. The school, enough to allow for a large contribu- official start date of the Toy Drive was November and during tion. 28, Jean-Carlos stated, but due to several reasons, that time Furthermore, the current economic the promotion process was slow, so many students we’re either crisis is another factor that makes didn’t really know about it. Jean-Carlos thinks that posting on people hesitant to contribute, espe- the school as a whole might be slightly hesitant to Facebook cially since there are other organiza- support the cause initially, but remains confident that what gifts tions trying to fundraise to donate to the NHS will receive donations, nonetheless. we received charity. This reason is not a complete Jessica Tomaz, the service coordinator of or we’re detriment, however, as it should the Peer Leaders, took some time as well to talk playing serve as a further reason to help out about the Thanksgiving baskets made for Newton our new these causes, since the recipients Street School by the members of that organization. game on are in greater need than we are. T.V. Because it was November, the Peer Leaders wanted our new flat com- to complete an act screen T.V. mercials of service with a However, don’t do Thanksgiving theme. the grass justice After collecting $5 is not greener on the other side, for there to the realities of kids per person from the are children who are lucky to just receive a having to spend their Peer Leaders, the Christmas card. It is for this reason that the holidays at the hospital, Advisor, Mr. Winston National Honor Society of Science Park is and their parents trying used the money to holding its annual Toy Drive. The weather to make their child happy buy food like Turkey, outside is frightful, but giving a toy would while worrying about biscuits, etc. With make a child’s day delightful! medical bills. the food that was The Vice President of Service of the Jean-Carlos purchased, the Peer National Honor Society, Samantha Dreher, Arenas, the President of Leaders were able took some time to discuss her feelings con- the National Honor So- to make 12 Thanks- cerning this commendable initiative. She ac- ciety, also took some time to discuss the Toy Drive. giving baskets, and donated them to Newton Street knowledged that she would be pleased with The Toy Drive has been going on for years, he ex- School. only 50 toys, which she feels is a reasonable plained, and the idea to have a Toy Drive in Decem- The recipients of the baskets were able to goal, yet it is disappointing that the students ber simply made sense – it is an event that takes place have a nice Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the efforts aren’t very motivated, but it’s understandable during the Christmas season where you can make a of the Peer Leaders, and the efforts of the NHS will since they have a lot to deal with. However, child in the hospital happy by giving them a toy that help make the Christmas of many children in need of Samantha believes that many of them would they normally wouldn’t be able to get. The NHS is some holiday cheer one to remember. The Balsamel Grant By Jean-Carlos Arenas Many members of the class of 2012 will invention in any field of science. The money for the the high school science classroom this year and be remember Mr. Balsamel, Honors Physics teacher grant will come from the Society’s the first students to receive a Richard Bal- extraordinaire, long after they graduate. His Learner- fundraising activities, school funds samel Innovation Grant. We hope you are up Active Technology-Infused (LATI) teaching style and corporate and private donors. for the challenge.” made his class one of the most indelible experiences We hope the grant will further for many of the current seniors. Having served SNHS’s mission of encouraging The idea behind the grant is to Science High School as an instructor of physics for among students a dedication to the promote a greater love of Science at Science almost forty years, he recently retired, but the legacy pursuit of scientific knowledge that Park High School and to provide students of Mr. Balsamel is far from forgotten. At the Sci- benefits all humankind and our with a unique opportunity to do research in ence National Honor Society 2011 Induction, it was planet. We live in a time of great a field of their interest. The grant provides announced that a grant would be established in the scientific discovery in fields such students with a chance to see what science educator’s honor – The Richard Balsamel Innovation as biology and astronomy. There outside of the classroom is like and to take Grant. are many serious problems facing control of their education. It fosters a degree humanity such as emerging infec- of independence and real-life science skills The grant states: “The Science Park Chap- tious diseases, resource depletion that are not easily taught in the traditional ter of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) and climate change that will be solved, in large part, classroom setting. is pleased to announce the establishment of The by increasing our scientific understanding. With this Richard Balsamel Innovation Grant. This competi- grant, we honor a dedicated and beloved teacher but The application for the grant is on the tive grant will provide students at Science Park High we also put forth a challenge to our best and brightest Science Park High School 10-12 Eboard, under the School with funds to conduct innovative research or young scientists at Science Park High School. We Clubs tab, and can be found on the Science National challenge you to push yourself beyond the limits of Honor Society note. Inside This Issue: Meet Mrs. Rivera (pg. 2) Healthy Student Column (pg. 2) Occupy Wall Street Editorial (pg. 3) Sudoku (pg. 4) Music and Videogame Reviews (pg. 4) 1 Staff Profile: Mrs. Rivera By Newton Portorreal New English and World Language De- teachers to the communities that lag furthest behind expected students to behave. Science Park, she says, has partment Chair, Mrs. Tonya Rivera, steps into a in terms of achievement, the same communities in a “tremendous amount of diversity,” which comprehen- position that has had multiple occupants over the which widespread poverty often exists. sive high schools, like Shabazz, often do not have. She last two years. One of the communities TFA often has a believes that, “students suffer as a result of the lack of Born in Carthage, a village in Upstate presence in is Newark, where failing schools seem diversity.” But students suffer from more than that, she New York that she describes as an “industrial town like the rule rather than the exception. Uncertain of adds. “People expects these kids to be low-level,” an that kind of has never recovered,” and raised in Al- what attracted her to Newark besides the proximity to attitude that can send the final blows to the confidences lentown, New Jersey, Mrs. Rivera is a graduate of an ailing family member, the self-described romantic of an already pessimistic teenager. Poor expectations and Rutgers, Columbia, and Malcolm X. Shabazz High says, “Sometimes, I think Newark chose me.” After poor results often become a vicious cycle and it is often School. her two years at Malcolm X Shabazz, Mrs. Rivera difficult to see where to step in and end the cycle as an As an undergraduate at Rutgers, Mrs. turned the tables on the cosmos and chose Newark educator. Rivera planned to take the LSAT and go to law right back, electing to continue teaching at Shabazz As a result of that, Mrs. Rivera admits, there school; instead, she found herself applying and for seven more years. is some stereotyping of teachers at comprehensive high ultimately joining Teach For America (TFA), an Mrs. Rivera’s experiences at Shabazz con- schools, a stereotype she believed might hinder her organization dedicated to eliminating educational tinually inform her of the advantages of Science Park. chances at being offered the position of Science Park. It inequity by enlisting America’s most promising She recounts her first experience in the cafeteria, seems, however, that that fear was unfounded, and she university students as teachers for two years. Her where she expected tables to be formed along the sits as a Department Chairperson at Science Park, grate- own experiences with poverty, she says, helped lines of ethnicity, and found herself surprised both ful for both her 9 years at Shabazz and her future as a her connect with the aims of TFA, which sends its at how reality met her expectations and how she had Charger. Student Profile: Jessica Tomaz By Pamela Gomez What is it like being an SPHS senior? an interest in. If you like what you’re learning about, extremely easy.