AMS II

2018-2019 School Year Newsletter

AMS II is committed to the personal, social & emotional well-being of students. Every project, trip, assembly and event is geared towards providing our students with an experience that will

enrich their lives, personally and academically. We have put together some of our favorite moments from this year and hope you enjoy this collection of our monthly newsletters, as they will give you personal insight into the month by month events that happen in a given trimester. Some highlights are academic facing, while others detail more enjoyable aspects of life as an

AMS II student, but all provide an invaluable look at our amazing little school that is providing an outstanding education to so many underserved South Bronx scholars.

December

DOOR DECORATING CONTEST To celebrate the holiday season, AMS II holds a Door Decorating Contest that winds up being a cheer filled hit every year! Staff and students get so creative and extremely competitive in the

process. This year, students were allowed to wear their favorite PJs while decorated and it resulted in some incredibly festive ideas! Mr. Kostka's homeroom won with their clever spin on a Chemis-Tree. Runners up were: Ms. Pizers 'Take a sELFie' homeroom door, Ms. Grimes 'Its

Lit' homeroom door and Mr. Milbrand's heavily decorated office door.

PEP RALLY Our Annual December Pep Rally is a great way to send our students off with joy before the

holiday break. We have cohort wars and dance competitions that allow our students and staff to unwind and have a great time.

January

ALUMNI BRUNCH & COLLEGE AWARENESS DAY

Students have been returning to AMS II for events that allow them to reconnect with past friends, former teachers, and mentors that they remain in contact with. They’ve shown an interest

in giving back to the school community, so it was a pleasure setting up classroom visits for College Awareness Day. There is nothing that compares to our students hearing from young South Bronx men and women that were just in their shoes a year or 2 ago. Like most young people, our alumni have shown a particular affinity for food, so getting them to sign up for

events like the Alumni Brunch has been enjoyable and resulted in amazing turnouts.

MLK DAY OF SERVICE: CITY YEAR AND NYC CARES

On January 19th, a group of AMS II students embarked on a trip to Iona College to partner with NYC Cares and give back to the less fortunate. A group of 7 students took the lead on the

creation of gratitude jars that were sent to members of the military. Surrounding the students and staff were many other groups dedicating their day to creating Valentines Day door hangers for senior centers, elaborate thank you cards for the military and care packages for the homeless. One of our Juniors was even asked to deliver a prepared speech, and he did an amazing job!

On Monday the 21st, AMS II partnered with City Year to bring a separate group of students to JHS 123 & MS 337 in the South Bronx to assist with the beautification of the campus. Our Student Engagement Associate and Head Basketball coach led this volunteer opportunity along with 4 students who spent their day painting walls throughout the building and writing inspirational quotes on the walls of the MS 337 Work Room. The feeling those students get when they walk into a revitalized school, with dozens of inspiring quotes is why we partake in these community service events and gladly sacrifice days off.

SIBLING PREVIEW DAY On January 30th, we held our first Sibling Preview Day for our prospective incoming siblings. Prospective students entered the building with their siblings and spent the first 3 periods of the

day shadowing Student Ambassadors to get a genuine feel of what it’s like to be an AMS II student. The event culminated in the Joseph King Library where they reconnected with their

siblings and had a pizza party with the Student Ambassadors, our 9th grade Assistant Principal, and our Family and Student Engagement Coordinator.

PERFECT ATTENDANCE TRIP | NEW ROC CITY

Our students take pride in their academics, so we take pride in rewarding them for their hard work! All students with perfect attendance were provided with an opportunity to enjoy

themselves at New Roc City where we played arcade games for an hour, battled it out during 3 intense laser tag matches and finished off with a relaxing round of bowling.

February

RESPECT FOR ALL WEEK Respect for All Week is a special time during the school year where we highlight and build upon

our anti-bullying practices. We aim to help students, staff and the entire Jane Addams community to gain a better understanding of diversity. We focus on preventing bullying,

intimidation, and bias-based harassment by creating our annual wall of peace and "No Place for Hate" murals.

R.I.C.H.E.R. SCHOLAR SNOW TUBING TRIP As a reward to our dedicated scholars, we ventured to Jack Frost Ski Resort in Pennsylvania for some fun in the snow! It was another successful district partnership initiative with the School of

Tourism and Hospitality, who we share our building with.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH ASSEMBLY School-wide celebration of Black History Month and showcase of our African American

scholars who possess incredible talents.

SNACK AND PAINT The Jane Addams S.S.A. (School Safety Agents) held their first annual Snack and Paint for the

JA Campus! Both schools in our building aim to build positive relationships between the two and our one of a kind agents are doing their part to meet the social and emotional well being of the young adults they keep safe on a daily basis. Finger foods were provided for the 5-6 students

from each school. Paint canvas and supplies were provided by STH. The event was a success and we thank the S.S.A. of the Jane Addams campus for their hard work!

AP STATISTICS PRESENTATION: WOULD YOU SHOOT YOUR SHOT?

AP Statistics just finished their unit on Significance Tests on the Difference between Two Proportions. As their assessment, the scholars chose a question "Would you shoot your shot?", conducted a survey, and performed a significance test on the difference of the likelihood of "shooting your shot" between the young men and young women of AMS 2.

LIU BROOKLYN SPORTS MANAGEMENT TRIP

Student athletes took a trip to LIU Brooklyn for a Sport Business Panel and Men's Basketball game. They had a blast at the game and were able to interact with the guest speakers beforehand. The opportunity to not only bring exposure to the academic side of college coupled with campus

life created a well rounded experience for our scholars.

BARCLAYS TAKEOVER The Jane Addams Campus (AMS II & STH) teamed up to provide our students with an amazing

NYC opportunity at the Brooklyn Nets home court. We took over the Barclays Center for an hour and provided students with the opportunity to compete in skills and shooting contests, along with a scrimmage on an NBA basketball court. All students in attendance had the opportunity to

take an official NBA shot and capture photos on the court.

March

Career Day On March 22nd, we held our 2nd annual Career Fair, resulting in another phenomenal

professional experience for our scholars. This was a great opportunity for our students to speak with someone whose career choice interests them, and to explore fields they may not have

considered before this day. There were 4 panel sessions in total throughout the day, with each session lasting 50 minutes each. Breakfast and lunch were provided to panelists to keep them

sharp throughout the information filled day!

Per Scholas A group of seniors interested in tech attended a one day bootcamp at Per Scholas earlier this

month, where they engaged in hands on tech and career activities. One of the first activities they participated in was putting a computer back together. The skill and knowledge they showcased

while participating in each activity was quite impressive and shows that we may have some future IT professionals on our hands.

April

Earthwatch

The Earthwatch Arizona Research Trip was an experience most people don't have the opportunity to take advantage of. Our students were selected to travel to the Chiricahua

mountains near Portal, Arizona where they contributed to genuine new research and added to the ongoing data collection being done by biologists across the country. This research involved

capturing and tagging 6 specific species of small owls, as well as surveying their natural habitat. We hope that all of this data that is being collected will inform us about how these owls are

adapting to change in their environment and how they're being affected by climate change as a whole. This is our 3rd annual research trip with Earthwatch and we hope to continue with this

partnership each and every year.

Reality Check On April 17th, our core members participated in a training and press conference educating the

NYC community on the tactics of "Big Tobacco". The members spoke with different representatives within city council about the harmful nature of flavors in e-cigarettes and how

they hook kids.

Washington DC Trip Our student representatives attended and participated in meetings with the FDA, TRUTH

Initiative, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids over Spring Break. Our focus for this year’s trip was media and messaging.

May College Decision Day

On May 1st, we held our College Decision Day celebration and recognized the triumphs of the class of 2019. Our senior team has been working hard with this year's graduating class, to help students solidify their final decisions and commit to a college or university. Teachers and staff members dressed down in their Alma Mater college gear to represent where they came from, while we highlighted our seniors hard work and commitment by celebrating them throughout the day with cake and music.

De-Stress Parent Event

Our first annual De-Stress night for families was an amazing event! It was an evening of fun and laughter for our families, as well as a time to promote the importance of regents readiness and

Saturday Academy. We also wanted to provide families with a night to come learn some tips and tricks for helping their child(ren) pass their regents exam and wound up with an enjoyable and

informative experience!

Outstanding Teacher Honored: Ms. Pizer

Michelle Pizer is a proficient teacher from New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math & Science II, who was recently recognized by The Academy for Teachers. Ms. Pizer, who teaches science, was invited to participate in one of The Academy’s master classes led by New York University anthropologist Robin Nagle. Teachers selected for Academy for Teachers master classes show passion for their subjects, creativity in their classrooms, and devotion to their students. “These teachers are exceptional,” said Sam Swope, president of The Academy for Teachers. “We only invite 18 teachers to each class, so being selected is a well-deserved honor for both teacher and school.”

Bronx Art Tour Ms. Veninga, our creative Art teacher, chose her most successful art students to participate in a walking tour of the Mott Haven area on Tuesday, May 7th, to both expose our students to what the creatives in the Bronx are doing and to reward the select students for all their hard work in her class this year. This tour focused on the arts and businesses within the Mott Haven area of the South Bronx. They met a legendary pioneer of graffiti art, Bio from TatsCru. They learned the importance of networking & pursuing a career doing something that you love. They also had the chance to leave their mark at Bronx Native & had a sneak peek at an exhibition that didn't open until Wednesday, May 8th at the Compound. Overall it was a rewarding experience for everyone involved.

MoMath Trip

Seniors from our AP Calculus & AP Statistics classes were presented with the opportunity to experience math in a physical, hands-on way by attending a trip to The National Museum of Mathematics. Visiting MoMath is an interactive and enjoyable time for scholars of all ages. Our students battled with equations, navigated mazes, solved puzzles, tackled unsolved problems and we look forward to attending next year!

AMS II SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS VolleyBall 

Football 

Track and Field

Soccer 

           

Baseball