COVER
THE TIME OF COVID SILENCED SPACES: THE AUDITORIUM. PHOTO BY CAROLINA HOJAIJ
In a crisis of unprecedented proportions, Brooklyn Tech faced the challenges – and prevailed.
A
T BROOKLYN TECH, it was the same as it was everywhere: an unrelenting nightmare with waves of loss, stress, and anxiety. But through it all, there was more: There was resilience. There was strength. There was resourcefulness. And at last came near-normalcy: In June, a Graduation Day with cheers, confetti, and perhaps more joy than any before it – over what the graduates had gone through to get there. Brooklyn Tech prevailed.
“EVEN WHEN THE WORLD STOPS, YOU CAN’T.” - Student Saira Masud
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t ideal. As the long school year’s end finally approached, principal David Newman would say: “We’re in a war. We got beaten up a bit, but victory is coming. Everybody rallied together like soldiers.” A SAMPLING OF WHAT it was like for “everybody” – six thousand students and three hundred staff: • Three out of four students attending class from home via laptops (the school provided one million dollars’ worth of them to those in need) – many in small apartments with sisters, brothers, and even parents doing the same in adjoining rooms. • About 700 students per day venturing into the school, just a handful in each classroom. Between classes: footsteps resounding FALL
2021
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