Harbor Current, Vol 2 (2012-13), No. 1 (September) by Billion Oyster Project

Vol. 2, Issue 1

September 27, 2012

The

Harbor

Current

Sanguinem cæruleum portus effundimus Late Island Final

Founded 2011

Dudley “Graduates” from Principalship Biedermann Takes Over by Paola Suazo

Photograph courtesy of gothamschools.org

Nate Dudley Leading the Class of 2012

Harbor School Turns Ten

Fire Claims Part of Pier 17

by Joy Junious

by Stefanos Kalogrias

Governors Island--September 6 marked the first day of the Harbor School’s ten year anniversary, and the Harbor community is just buzzing. Under its new leader Edward Biedermann, Harbor School has undergone a few changes to the staff but the spirit here at Harbor will never change. Several people had an opinion about the fact that Harbor School turns ten this year. How does NYHS founder and New York Harbor Foundation Head Murray Fisher feel about the fact that the school he founded ten years ago is now... ten years old? “I had more hair ten years ago,” he said; “I note the passage of time. Every day feels new, exciting, because I don’t get bored. But tiring, because it’s hard to establish routines and rhythms. I’m sad about losing Nate but also excited about working with Edward to create systems to ensure stability.” Alissa McGrisken, early college advisor and student opportunities coordinator, also had thoughts to share about the Harbor School’s tenth anniversary. “It is very exciting for me to witness Harbor stepping into its tenth anniversary, especially as the school begins to really delve into planning for the next ten years,” she said.

Manhattan--On July 14th, shortly before 4 p.m. there was a 3-alarm fire at the end of Pier 17, on the East River near South Street Seaport. The blaze, which officials claim was due to faulty wiring, seems to have begun under the boards of the pier. It spread to the Express store on the ground floor of the building on the pier, and that store was completely gutted by the flames. Many shoppers and workers rushed out of the building at the east end of Pier 17. Most of them were able to get off of the pier without any problem, but some were rescued by Clipper City, a schooner moored at the end of the pier, which took its load of rescued passengers to Red Hook in Brooklyn. A fireboat sped to the scene, and by 5 p.m. the blaze was under control, and no injuries were reported. Although the fire was under control at 5:00, it still went on for another hour, and in order to put the fire completely out, the fire department had to cut many holes to go below the pier, which normally no one has access to. As a few of the fireman descended below the pier, they put out the parts of the fire that were burning the longest, and ended the horrible accident.

Continued on page 5

See page 3 for Kalogrias’ eyewitness account.

Inside: Ocean Guardians page 2

Oyster Restoration Updates page 3

Atlantic Challenge: From Maine to Ireland page 4

Governors Island-- Nathan Dudley, who has been the principal of The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School since the school's founding in 2003, after 9 years has graduated from his position at the helm of NYHS. On June 22nd, 2012 Nate announced that he was moving on from his position, and walked down the aisle with the graduating class. He left to become the Deputy Network Leader at Network 403 within the NYC Department of Education. Edward Biedermann, the former Assistant Principal, will be stepping up as Acting Interim Principal. Dudley’s nine year leadership at Harbor School started with a challenge: trying to create a maritime school in the middle of Bushwick, which is seemingly the farthest place possible from the maritime life. But he alongside Murray Fisher made it happen. Having a maritime theme would, they hoped, make students want to learn more, because they would be learning in context: doing more handson projects, instead of just looking at a screen. You can’t navigate without math, and you need to know English to write policy and affect change. Dudley and Fisher wanted to create a school with a community where the people are more than just students and teachers: they are a Harbor family. In 2010 Dudley supervised the move of NYSH to its new Island home. Joy Junious, now a senior, recalls one way that Dudley helped the school maintain continuity between Bushwick and Governor’s Island. When she was a freshman, she helped plan and paint a mural on a panel of wood. It was completed in a classroom in Bushwick, and then moved to a prominent place in the new building. “Nate said, ‘make sure you take extra care of that mural,’ and he made sure that it was taken from Bushwick to Governor’s Island, delivered with care to its new home. And that made me feel really proud, that he took pride in our work.” Now Dudley is ready to set out his next adventure in a bigger ship with a new course and destination. The Harbor School family will miss him, and wishes him the best.

Heart of Oak: NYHS Grad Crews On Tall Ship page 6

First Impressions: 9th Grade Voices page 7

The Problem of Marine Debris: Turtle Caught in a Free Floating Fishing Line

NYHS to Become NOAA Ocean Guardian School by Jasmine Hernandez and Kerstin Kalchmayr New York Harbor-- This school year, New York Harbor School is going to be participating in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association sponsored Ocean Guardian School Program. NOAA is a federal agency whose purpose is to look at the status of the oceans and atmosphere, and notify the public about them. Harbor School’s being involved in the NOAA program will help the school gain power and commitment to protect, safeguard and preserve our local watersheds, especially New York Harbor, but also the oceans and special areas like national marine sanctuaries. National Marine sanctuaries are areas much the same as the national parks on land. They include biological and historical sites of importance, like whale breeding grounds and shipwrecks. There are 14

Editor-in-Chief: Jasmine Hernandez News Editor: Joy Junious Features Editor: Paola Suazo Contributing Writers and Collaborators: Stefanos Kalogrias, Pablo Jiminez, Candace Barrow, Marc Melendez, Raees Muhammed, Kerstin Kalchmayr, Ariel Ron, Tiana Gonzalez, Elijah Hernandez, Erika Garcia, Edgar Torres, Jahid Casado, Olivia Ferenczy, and Ashanti Jones. Special thanks to Matthew Haiken, Murray Fisher and Cate Hagarty.

national marine sanctuaries in U.S. waters of various sizes. One of these is the Stellewagen Bank, an underwater plateau off the coast of Cape Cod. It is the closest marine sanctuary to New York City, and includes fishing grounds and the habitats of many different types of marine mammals such as humpback whales, fin whales, northern right whales, white sided dolphins and harbor seals. New York Harbor School is located in a special area: in the middle of New York Harbor, one of the world’s most urban estuaries. Estuaries are places where fresh water and seawater meet, and create a very productive ecosystem filled with many different types of fish, birds, and other aquatic animals. Because it is an urban estuary New York Harbor water quality is strongly affected by pollution. Combined Sewer Outlets are city sewer pipes that spill out into our harbor. They allow plastic and garbage into the harbor, where they become marine debris. Marine debris is a major problem for marine life. As Ocean Guardians, Harbor School students will be learning about the issues that have to do with water quality within our harbor, and they will promulgate to other students the message about the role we all play in helping to keep plastics from entering local streams that can eventually lead out

Adviser: Susannah Black Acting Principal: Edward Biedermann New York Harbor School Battery Maritime Building 10 South Street, Slip 7 New York City, NY 10004

into the oceans and make their way to marine sanctuaries. Harbor students are also going to be passing the word about the estuary’s own environmental hero: the oyster. They filter the water, removing excess phytoplankton and sediments, and build oyster reefs which provide a place to live for many aquatic species. Over the next school year, as the Harbor School students become Ocean Guardians, the are going to be responsible in teaching New York City middle school students the reason why oysters are so important, and how we all can play a role in keeping our waters clean so that oysters and every other creature in the Harbor can survive.

We always welcome opinions, feedback, letters to the editor, and news tips. Reach us at harborcurrentnews@gmail.com The Harbor Current is an open forum for the expression of student views. The opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent those of the administration or faculty, or of the student body as a whole.

3 Lab Report

Oysters vs. Enterococcus: the Showdown by Pablo Jiminez

In the Lab: Pablo Jiminez at Work I spent more than a month during the summer working in the Marine Biology room at the Harbor School on Governor’s Island with my mentor, Mauricio Gonzalez, on an experiment trying to determine if oysters can filter out a lactic acid bacterium, called Enterococcus, that makes water bodies in New York City unsafe to swim in. The Harbor School is trying to restore oysters to New York Harbor, and if I am able to show as a scientific

fact that oysters can be helpful, explaining how much pollution they can clean out of the water, then people will be motivated to help with the oyster restoration project. This project is related to the work that I do during the school year in my marine biology CTE (Career and Technical Education specialty class.) My experiment consisted of 8 tanks total; 4 with oysters, 4 without. I put water taken from the East River between Governors Island and the southern tip of Manhattan into all 8 of these tanks. But before I put the water in the tanks, I took an enterococcus reading of it. It measured a reading of 40 MPN (which is a slightly high reading for enterococcus). Then the next day, after allowing the oysters to do their work filtering the water through their systems, I took another reading from all 8 tanks. The MPN for the tank with the oysters was 7 MPN (which is considerably low) and for the ones without, the reading was 13.5 MPN. So my conclusion so far is that oysters can filter out this lactic acid bacteria (enterococcus), but the science community would want to see more results before they can consider this a fact.

Oyster Restoration Update by Ashanti Jones The New York Harbor School’s oyster restoration project has many aspects. In this update, reporter Ashanti Jones describes the progress of the oyster colony that students have established by the Wallabout Basin sewer outflow near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and also covers the challenges involved in protecting the oyster “nursery” on the floating docks near the seawall on Governors Island from a troublesome environmental pest. New York Harbor-going on to keep Howdy folks and here’s clear of an update straight from sediments and Wallabout Basin. The organisms that “lab rat” oysters that may prevent were at the Wallabout water flow Basin have been through the trays. growing. Oysters are A blockage of known to grow fastest water flow can near the surface so become deadly to there appears to be a these trays. The vertical gradient ones giving the growth rate. Thumbs up oysters their to the Harbor school tender loving for its first SOS (spat care recently on shell) in Wallabout: were interns I seem to be the Florence and bearer of the best Beni. photograph by Pete Melinowski news today. A Also on lookout for the Spat on Shell: Beni Nedrick on the Ecodock this visit, intern dreaded oyster drills Johnny Anderson has been afoot. They and aquaculture instructor Pete Malinowski loaded are known as an “economic pest,” and they are 18,000 oysters in to to trays, then shipped them to the thought to be partly responsible for the failure of Wallabout Basin aboard the Filthy Oyster. For these native oysters to recover from over hunting. Oyster guys hard work really does pay off. drills are snails that eat oysters by boring holes into In other news, the Fishers Island oyster their shells. It seems that if the cages touch the SOS that were set in the lab a month ago are starting bottom, the oysters in those cages can pick up the to show their faces to the world. They are much drills. So careful with those trays-- Harbor School bigger now. The Harbor School is making progress doesn’t need any pests finding a home here. that will soon lead to a major success. I’m your reporter Ashanti Jones signing out Down by the floating docks along the shore with a “Harbor Up!” because this week the Harbor of Governors Island, the oysters have been getting School has nothing but good news to tell. some TLC. Lots of cleaning and drying have been

“Fire!” by Stefanos Kalogrias On City of Water Day, July 14, I was working as a student guide on Governors Island. It’s a big day, in which Governors Island holds festivities for the public and many people come to visit. There had been lots of things going on on the Island that day, from kayaking, to food vendors, to free tours of the Harbor School. Governors Island was not the only place to have these festivities: there was also another location in New Jersey, which had just about the same things, except for the tour of the school, because there is only one Harbor School, and it is on Governors Island. Now as I was leaving the island, I took a seat on the ferry, and took my book out and started to read, waiting for the ferry to leave. When it did, the boat was pretty full. Since I was upstairs, and outside, I couldn’t tell how many more were inside, downstairs; but upstairs was packed. Then, while reading my book I realized lots of people were talking, and gasping, and moving around, and I even heard someone say “Fire!” At this point I was very curious, wondering what was going on. Was the boat on fire? No, everyone would be much louder if they were in danger. Then I looked up, and looked around. Then I saw it. Smoke. Lots and lots of smoke. After this registered in my brain, my second thought was Where is it coming from? I followed the smoke with my eyes down to were it was coming from: a fire on Pier 17, right at South Street Seaport, next to the ferry terminal where we were headed. This took me a while to comprehend, because I had been there tons of times, and it was such a well-known place for me, that I couldn’t believe it was on fire. Then I realized the fire was at the part that was closest to the water, so it might be a boat. But I looked closer and found that there was no boat. It was the pier itself: Pier 17 was really on fire. I didn’t worry too much, because the fire department was already there, and there was a fire boat speeding right behind us towards the fire. Also, since the whole thing wasn’t on fire, there wasn’t much to worry about. Once I saw the fire boat behind us, I looked ahead of us, and realized we were about to dock. I looked back towards Pier 17, and realized it was already almost out of sight. That was my experience witnessing the Pier 17 fire.

They Swam The Island!

Photograph: May Taliaferrow

NYCSwim Participants Arben Ukperaj, Chris Lorient, Nathan Ferenczy, Tejay French, and Gabriel Taliaferrow NY Harbor-- On July 28th, students participated in NYCSWIM’s swim around Governors’ Island, along with 300 of their fellow New Yorkers. The two-mile course was, according to NYCSWIM, “extremely challenging,” but, notes the organization, the “water-level views of Governors Island, Manhattan, Jersey City, Staten Island, and Brooklyn are amazing.” The student participants did their school proud, completing the difficult course.

Atlantic Challenge:

An Ocean Adventure from Maine to Ireland by Paola Suazo

The US team in their gig “Atlantic Challenge? What is that?” That was the question that everyone asked when I asked for a donation. I didn't really know the answers to these questions, even after all the research that I had done on what Atlantic Challenge really was. My response was usually, “Atlantic Challenge is a challenge against other nations that has to do with rowing, sailing, and navigation". But honestly not even I really knew what Atlantic Challenge was all about. FUND-RAISE, FUND-RAISE, FUNDRAISE. That's all we did for a long time. We needed enough money to add up to $7,000. At the end of our entire fund-raising all we had was about $6,200: we were $800 short. Despite the amount we were short, the next day we caught a bus. And set out for our destination: first stop... Rockland, Maine. After an 8 hour bus ride to Rockland, a night there wasn't bad at all. 6:00 am wake-up call, and on we went to our next destination. Green's Island waited for our arrival, after a fourteen-mile row and sail to Green's in a type of gig that I had never seen before. A Bantry Bay gig wasn't what I expected to be in for the rest of my summer. Green's wasn't quite what I expected either. There was no time to waste! 5:45 a.m. wake up calls and 6:00 a.m. morning rows, all to train us for what was to come. Those 6 a.m. rows weren't the best at first, but they turned out to be okay after a while. Our first breakfast together, I must admit, was kind of awkward. It was the most silent meal we had throughout the whole time we were there. Being around a table we had made out of drift wood, with people that we had never seen, but had to trust with our lives. That's where sailing came in, trusting someone unknown to you to teach you how to sail, because honestly that was the first time I have ever sat in or even heard of a Bantry Bay gig. That first gig we trained on was called Garuda, meaning Lord of Transportation in Indonesian, and it was made out of pure teak. Might have been the heaviest gig I have ever rowed in. But it's one of the most beautiful carved gigs I have ever seen, a gig built by the Indonesians. Later on, also on Green’s, we met another boat: Communité, meaning community in French. That was one of the first gigs used by the American Team in Atlantic Challenge. Around 12 years old, it was the perfect gig for us to start training on. It was

the boat that most closely functioned like Loyauté, the gig that we would have to use in Ireland. As the two-and-a-half-week training session passed we got better and better at working together in a gig that very few of us knew how to sail or row before. We, who were going all the way over to Ireland to represent the US at this international challenge, were a team made up of rowers from across the country, and we had to learn to function together, and quickly. We had very few sailing practices because of very poor winds. PRACTICE and PRACTICE-- that’s all we did, and at the end it all came down to knots, splices and whippings. KNOTS, knowing them by memory-- that's all we had to know. Sounds easy right? It's not as easy as it sounds when you need to tie the knot and explain its purpose in less than 20 seconds. SPLICES, they are pretty easy once you know how to do them but if you mess up once, you need to start all over again. You need to know the eye slice, short splice, long splice and back splice and their definitions because you don't know which one the judges might give you. WHIPPINGS, they are easy but once they add a

needle and a palm (a leather tool like a glove to push the needle through the line you’re working on), it’s more like rocket science. Even with the palm on, you could still feel the thick needle in the palm of your hand creating another blister. July 17th was the day we left Green's Island behind and set out for our next destination: once again, Rockland. This must have been the hottest day that we’d had since we were there. Such a nice day, but no wind at all. 14 miles and more than 4 hours of straight rowing, with enthusiasm till the end. Finally, back around civilization! And spending a night inside Lance Lee’s home was the perfect way to end the day. Lance Lee, the man that started it all and from my point of view, knows it all. His incredible house is like having a museum as a home, and he also runs a school of traditional boatbuilding called The Apprenticeshop, which he started in 1972. In 1986 it was Lee who, along with Bernard Cadoret from France, started the Atlantic Challenge. I must say most of the things I have learned from this experience, have been from this man. Who can make so much use of a piece of drift wood? No one... His home is made about 70% out of drift wood. Lee pulled me aside once and said to me "You may not know it, and you may not believe it, but you guys made it to the book...You guys made history. You guys are the first colored kids to ever make it in the U.S.A. team in Atlantic Challenge history" He was talking about Michael and me, the delegation from the Harbor School. Ireland was the next destination. It wasn’t quite what I expected: it rained most of the days, and the sun didn’t show itself --much. But other then that it was great. Meeting people from fifteen other nations, with different cultures, different languages and accents. And after just a couple days in Ireland, our first event is up. The most important event of all, the Captain’s Gig. Getting dressed in the traditional way and transporting a Captain from his vessel to shore. Then the sailing event came, everything was going wrong, we set up our main and fore masts wrong, and had to reset them again, the winds were dead, and no one knew where the starting line was at. Good thing we had the lightest boat there! Even after all the wrong things that were happening, we started the race as First and made sure that we kept it that way. First place was ours! The second sailing race came up and still no wind. It was too hard to give first place away so we kept it. We didn’t come in first overall, but we did for both sailing events: we showed everyone that the U.S.A. are the best sailors internationally! Throughout this experience, I had been thinking, there wasn’t a better way that I would have rather spent my summer. The race itself... it’s a challenge, but not as much as learning it for the first time. Atlantic Challenge isn’t just about rowing and sailing, it’s about those two and a half weeks of training: that’s the real challenge. Living with people that you don’t even know and actually being able to get to know them so well as to become a family. Learning how to row and sail a gig that you have never seen before. Having to learn your knots, splices, whippings, and their uses by memory, those are the challenges. Those were the real victories. Photograph: Paola Suazo

Fully-rigged Bantry Bay gig

Harbor School’s 10th Anniversary continued from Page 1 She is very involved right now with the start of a new program, SAIL (Student Advisors Instilling Leadership), which she co-founded with Jason Allen, the Harbor School Dean “Seeing an idea like SAIL now embarking on its maiden voyage is awesome,” she said. “What is even more fantastic is seeing the SAIL advisors own their leadership roles and growing into themselves...I truly believe in the program and what it can do for the culture of our school, long-term.” Moving away from the adult and staff point of view, let’s see what some students had to say. Says Candace Barrow, a Junior who spent part of the summer as an intern mentoring incoming freshmen through In-dock, “I feel awesome, I’m bleeding Harbor blue right now! I feel appreciative to see where it started and where it’s gone, what [the school has] grown into. I feel like [the students from] ten years ago [would] be proud. I’m so happy to be a part of this. I feel like it’s memorable and everyone here in the school now is a part of it-- a big part of it!” Ileana Leon, a Senior, said “ It’s incredible, Joy! Just a better reason to celebrate. This year is automatically memorable and I love that we’re the ones to graduate the same year the school turns ten and that we get to carry the Harbor School legacy.” That just about does it! Keep an eye out for more thoughts on the tenth anniversary of the Harbor School and make sure you continue to always, always bleed Harbor blue! In the words of Nate, fair winds and smooth sailing, Harbor School!

Ten years in, the dream continues: NYHS students furl sails on Picton Castle

Propeller Club Raises Funds for NY Harbor Foundation by Joy Junious

Manhattan-- The Port of New York and New Jersey Propeller Club is a maritime themed club, founded in 1927. Its main goals are to unite maritime businesses and to raise money to give to different organizations that are educating people to go into the maritime trades. This year they held a major fundraising event at Max, a restaurant on Duane Street in Manhattan, for the benefit of the New York Harbor Foundation. Here’s the 411. Who: A host of maritime business people, from maritime magazine publishers to students from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island. What: Had dinner, a few drinks and laughs, and the opportunity to talk to Harbor School students. These industry representatives also took the opportunity to meet and learn from each other about other maritime issues. When: Thursday, September 20th, 2012 at 5 p.m. Why: To raise money for this year’s chosen organization, the New York Harbor Foundation, and its different programs. How: Donations and a 50/50 raffle. The way the raffle works is that participants bought 5 tickets for $20 or one for $5, and at the end of the night one number/ticket was picked and that winner gets half of what was raised. The event was sponsored by a number of different organizations: Chalos & Co., P.C., an international

law firm; Classic Harbor Line Cruises, which runs two of the Harbor’s classic schooners, Adirondack and America 2.0, as well as the motor yacht Manhattan; CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping group, headquartered in Marseilles, France; maritime industry thought leader Clay Maitland; Statue Cruises, which runs tours to Liberty and Ellis Islands; New York Maritime, Inc. (NYMAR), an association of maritime companies in the New York area with the goal of promoting the benefits of the region as a maritime business center; the New York Shipping Association, a leading industry group promoting port security, employee education, labor relations, and the efficient movement of goods; and NAMEPA, the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the need to preserve the marine environment. During the event it was very loud and everyone was talking and laughing. There were a lot of people trying to talk to students from the Harbor School because they wanted a student’s point of view on the school. It was a very relaxed environment: nothing too businessy, but everyone was dressed casually. Women wore skirts and blouses, and men wore suits. I was accompanied by two other Harbor students: Kennington Hall and Paul Blatt. Also at the event were Intro to New York Harbor teacher and co-chair of the CTE program Ann Fraioli, New York Harbor Founder and President of the New York Harbor Foundation Murray Fisher, and Acting Interim Principal Edward Biedermann. That’s my scoop-over and out for now, Harbor School!

Photograph: Pete Malinowski

On Mission: Students Maria and Anthony on the Ecodock with oysters prepared for Wallabout Basin outflow

Students’ Voices

Learning the Ropes: Marc Melendez’ Harbor Journey

In-dock Interns: Raees Mohammed and Candace Barrow Reflect on their Experience as Mentors of Incoming Freshmen In-dock, NYHS’ unique freshman orientation program, which incorporates teambuilding, physical conditioning, and maritime skills, is one of the ways that students begin to learn what it takes to be a member of the Harbor School community. But the Indock experience doesn’t only impact incoming 9th graders. Raees Mohammed and Candace Barrow are an upperclassman and -woman who, as In-dock interns, provided mentoring and leadership for the incoming freshmen over the summer, working with three groups of rising freshmen over three weeks. The Harbor Current spoke with Barrow and Mohammed on the ferry one summer afternoon during the week that they were working with the third group. HC: You both did In-dock as incoming freshmen yourselves. How does the experience that these 9th graders are having differ from yours? Barrow: When we did it, we just kayaked, ran around the island, and did weight training... they do more. They do boatbuilding.

photograph courtesy of Manhattan by Sail

Clipper City

Mohammed: They go on the Pioneer [a local schooner]. They also do an overnight, on Thursday of each of the weeks. They make s’mores, sit around the campfire...

Marc Melendez, class of 2012, is the third Melendez brother to attend NYHS: his older brother Jose, for whom the Jose Melendez Stewardship Award is named, is now serving in the Coast Guard. His older brother Luis, a member of NYHS’ first graduating class, earned his 100-ton captain’s license and worked as a ferry pilot, before returning to NYHS in 2011 to pursue his passion for marine science as a Vessel Ops and Aquaculture teaching assistant.

Aaron. I’d first wanted to do an internship with Water Taxi, but he told me to give this a shot. And I liked it.

HC: What changes do you see in the incoming students over the course of the week? What changes do you see in yourselves?

HC: So do you think you’ll want to stick with tall ships rather than modern ones?

Barrow: Towards the end of the week, they get really close.

Melendez (emphatically): Yes. I’ve been thinking of taking a break for a year at some point and finding a ship going all over the world.

NYHS students often end up in summer jobs or internships that are unusual, to say the least. Over the summer, the Harbor Current caught up with Marc, on board Clipper City, the gaff-rigged topsail schooner where he is racking up sea-time as a deckhand and learning the ropes sailing in New York Harbor.

HC: You graduated in May. What are your college plans?

Mohammed: We’re also students, of course, but we have more authority... We saw them grow from the beginning of the week to the end. They start out all quiet, but we get them talking like they’re best friends. The things they have to do, they really have to learn to work together.

HC: What drew you to New York Harbor School initially?

Melendez: SUNY Morrisville, to study automotive engineering and design. Ultimately I’d like to work for a big car company-- Chevrolet or something-- I’d love to design old school muscle cars for them. But I never want to lose interest in my marine side also. I wanna stay on the water.

M e l e n d e z : I w a s n ’t o r i g i n a l l y interested. My brothers went there, and I didn’t want to be like them. So I started at Jamaica High, but then I transferred to NYHS Sophomore year.

Barrow: Some of the kids got paranoid after the ghost stories, though. Mohammed: I don’t think you can call it a story if it really happened. There were two stories from World War II that we heard at the campfire...We slept on Colonels’ Row, and all the cicadas were making noise, and that freaked people out. HC: Describe the boatbuilding part of the orientation. How does that work?

HC: When did you know you’d made the right decision to transfer?

Barrow: We previously led the other groups to lay the bottom, and then we got the hull stitched together with copper wire, the port and starboard sides...

Melendez: It was actually Brendan [Malone’s marine technology CTE] class. I was always interested in motors-- automotive stuff; for my family, it’s either cars or boats. First thing Brendan said was “We’re gonna be working with motors, working with our hands.” That’s what sold me.

Mohammed: ...and then we use epoxy to seal up all the holes. Then we sanded it-- we had to wait 24 hours for the epoxy to stick, though. We have two boats finished, they just need to get painted, and we’re almost done with the third-- we just have to epoxy it. They’re rowing boats, but we bought one rig to make one of them into a sailing vessel. Aaron [Singh] says we’re going to get rigs for the others, too.

HC: Which teachers were most influential for you, would you say?

HC: Tell me about the students’ time on Pioneer. What’s that like?

M e l e n d e z : B r e n d a n , Ti z o c [ G o m e z , O c e a n Engineering/Vessel Ops CTE], Aaron [Singh, Marine Tech/Vessel Ops CTE], Mike [Moshos, forensic science], Noah [Heller, physics]. And Sihab, but she left... I was on Tizoc’s rowing team, on A-squad. I had the best time. And I actually got this job through

The In-dock Experience: Incoming 9th graders building a boat.

Mohammed: When they go on Pioneer, they just look at it like it’s... Most kids don’t even see sailing boats any more, just motor boats. Each sail weighs literally a ton. We tell them they have to raise the sails, and they’re like, “How?” That fits in with them learning how to work together. They learned other things, too: how to look on the chart to see where they are based on the buoys nearby, how deep the water is.

First Impressions:

9th Graders Speak Up So far the Harbor School has been fun. Things are great; I have a new life here. Making new friends and learning a lot of new subjects is a blast so far, and I can’t wait to see what it’s like in the tenth grade. Thanks to In-dock and other summer activities I got to meet some new people that I go to school with. The kids at my old school were evil and didn’t do as asked, but the kids here are amazing and good. I really like it here a lot and I hope I can stay for all four years. Overall things here are great and [are] going to be a lot of fun. --Edgar Torres

Intro to New York Harbor: Freshmen Get Schooled Walking through crowded hallways and climbing packed staircases are the only downsides to high school. Coming on the first day, the only emotion that I could feel was excitement. Walking through the doors was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Meeting new people and getting to know everyone is also very fun. Everyone in the school is very kind and affable. I have no fear approaching people because I feel so comfortable. I have made many friends, and hope to take them along with me over the next four years. Each class is different. Somehow Harbor School has managed to make class fun and entertaining, something most schools don’t even have cross their minds. I am also very excited about joining the rowing team. I know with the team, that we are going to make it to Boston. Overall my first week at Harbor School has been amazing. I have made more friends than I ever thought possible, and hope to keep making friends. The teachers are all so kind, and make learning fun. I know I am going to enjoy the next four years. --Ariel Ron My assumption about my new life as a high schooler was that some of the kids were going to be wild and uncaring, but I’m used to that. Well, I was wrong about the kids. Most of them are so far friendly and nice, even the upper classes. I thought that the upper classes would try to push us freshmen around but they didn’t. I could say I have a couple of close friends but I really can’t say that I know these people, ‘cause we just started a new school year. The teachers also are friendly, but I don’t know why... Most teachers I have now are better than the ones I had in middle school. They are teaching us new ways that really work. New York Harbor School really picks the few people in the system who really know what they are doing. The school isn’t playing around with the world and the education of their kids. All schools need this. I’m looking forward to this year, and to having a great time. --Anonymous

My impression of this school is great. I like the school because I always feel like the day goes by really fast, and you know what they say: time flies when you’re having fun. I remember always being in class and thinking, “when is school going to end!” Now, I haven’t even cared when school is going to end because it’s just that great. Being in high school is also a life changing experience. I feared high school would be scary, but I can see now it’s nowhere near scary! I see that the older kids are nice, and especially all the teachers. It feels like the school is one big happy family. It’s also really different from middle school because for one thing, everyone is older, and another thing is, you can just tell that it’s a place for maturity. My commute here is great because I don’t live that far from here. My old school is only about three blocks away from the BMB [Battery Maritime Building] so I can take the same exact route. In fact I could walk or even ride my bike to school because that’s how close I am to the school. Harbor school is way different than all of the other schools I visited, so I’m glad I got accepted into this school, and have this great opportunity. --Tiana Gonzalez My first impression of the Harbor School was excellent. I really was excited to come to the school. In-dock helped me make a lot of new friends; it also made me even more excited. The first day was hard because waking up at 6:45 is just not my thing, especially after a great summer. The commute was also hard because I forgot where to go. I was really intimidated seeing older kids running around and being happy to see each other again. On the boat it was weird because people were staring at me; it was scary. Meeting some of my teachers for the first time was great; they all seemed like good teachers, [willing] to help us freshmen out a lot. All in all it was a great first day and I really like this school a lot. --Elijah Hernandez

My first impression of Harbor was that I was so excited about how [this was a place where] there was so much history for a school to be located in. Also it was very different from any other school because mostly the school deals with marine life and a lot of other things that [will help you] have a job... in the future. Like if you want to be in the Coast Guard or Navy SEALs, you can be certified for [these things] in the future, because Harbor School taught everyone, including you, how to do all those things... I think that the ferry is one of the best parts of the school because even though it’s on an island called Governors Island, it’s still good that I have to travel there on a boat and be away from New York City, even though the island is close to New York City. My last impression is that I have to get up early in the morning to take the subway and then take the ferry. This school also gets you prepared for college and also gets you prepared for a career. --Jahid Casado My name is Olivia Ferenczy, and I am 14 years old. I was homeschooled my whole life, so high school is a big change for me. I went to In-dock a few weeks before going to school, and they had everything planned. They took us to SUNY Maritime college, we got to drive boats, we went kayaking, and we spent a day on the Pioneer. They did this so we would know what to expect in our next four years of high school. I enjoyed everything we did at In-dock, and I couldn’t wait to get school started. I have to take the ferry with all the other students to get to school, and I think that’s unique! The Harbor School also has a class for freshmen. It’s called Harbor Class, and Ann and Jeremy take you out on field trips. I have not gone on the field trips yet, but I can’t wait. Everything about this school is unique, and I love it. --Olivia Ferenczy My first impression at Harbor School was confusing. I went looking for the Governors Island ferry; I was asking people and none of them knew. I had to ask a bus driver and [he] gave me the location. When I got there the room was full of people. We waited until they said we were going on the boat. I’ve never been on a boat so I had a weird feeling. We got there and I liked how it looked but there’s no one on that island. Nothing I knew of. My mom was with me [but] she left after getting to the school. I went upstairs with everybody else... I was very confused throughout the whole day. I really didn’t know anybody. I was happy when I got home; I was very tired! I think I’m getting used to this routine... I like Harbor School. --Erika Garcia

NYHS/New York Maritime Community Events October/November, 2012 Sunday

Monday

October 1

Tuesday

Wednesday

Greenmarkets @ Bowling Green/SI Ferry Terminal (continuing ea. week)

Thursday

Friday

5 SIF Greenmarket

Greenmarket @Bowling Green (continuing ea. week)

1776: Ezra Lee fails to blow up British frigate in NY Harbor w/ early submarine

Columbus Day Observed: School Closed

Heroes of the Harbor and Parade of Boats Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

National Maritime Historical Society Awards Dinner, New York Yacht Club

Salute to USCG

Greenmarket @SI Ferry Terminal (continuing ea. week)

18 BG Greenmarket 19

Celebrating MobyDick: SS Seaport Museum Benefit Performance

Port Industry Day Conference (Newark) Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

BG Greenmarket

26 SIF Greenmarket 27

Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

Educator Open House @Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

BG Greenmarket

Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award Dinner & Dance/United Seamen’s Service

Top 9 Collegiate Sailing Regatta/ SUNY Maritime

November 1

BG Greenmarket

SIF Greenmarket

BG Greenmarket

SIF Greenmarket

Full Moon

Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

Veterans’ Day Ceremony @Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

School Closed: Veterans’ Day Observed

Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

Marine Environmental Intelligence Conference; NAMEPA General Meeting/Awards Dinner

BG Greenmarket

SIF Greenmarket

School Closed: Thanksgiving

School Closed

Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

BG Greenmarket

SIF Greenmarket

Top 9 Collegiate Sailing Regatta/ SUNY Maritime

1783: Evacuation Day: Last shot in American Revolution: gunner on departing British ship fires at Staten Island

Documentary Premiere: Shellshocked, SS Seaport Museum

Saturday

Bowling G/SI Ferry Greenmarkets

Full Moon

BG Greenmarket

SIF Greenmarket

America’s Cup 12 Metre & J/24 Racing to Benefit NYHS When: Thursday, September 27, 2012 Where: North Cove Marina, G.I. Beach Club Maritime industry leaders and others will race historic America’s Cup 12 metres and J/24s at the second annual Harbor School Regatta at Governors Island to benefit the New York Harbor Foundation.

SIF Greenmarket

Featured Event

December 1

Second Annual Harbor School Regatta MSNBC’s Willie Geist will provide commentary. Following the Regatta, sailors and spectators will head to the Post-Regatta Bash at Governors Beach Club, where they will take in the Harbor School Regatta awards ceremony, live reggae music, and tremendous late summer views of downtown Manhattan. Proceeds will benefit New York Harbor Foundation to fund career and technical education, after school programs, college readiness and summer programs for New York Harbor School students.

Sponsors include: Alton Lane, Brooklyn Brewery, Chelsea Clock, Classic Harbor Line, DNAinfo.com, Gaastra Pro, Gosling’s Rum, Governors Island Beach Club, Fishers Island Oysters, High Plains Bison, Keeper Springs, Luke’s Lobster, Manhattan Sailing Club, Mast Brothers Chocolate, Nautica, The Moore Charitable Foundation, Virgin Atlantic, Vita Coco. The 2012 Harbor School Regatta is part of the Waterkeeper Alliance Splash Series, presented nationally by Toyota in partnership with KEEN; and part of the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta Program.