11 minute read
Student Voices
Seven year Seven year Clippers Clippers
Move from Genesis to Xaverian High School
Many middle schoolers are eager to make a change in ninth grade. Genesis students are excited to stay. What’s so special about Xaverian?
Genesis Clippers are sticking around! This year, 75% of the eighth grade Genesis class moved on to high school at Xaverian. They are poised to become a group of students with a special distinction: the Seven Year Clippers, who will spend sixth through twelfth grade at 7100 Shore Road.
Here, five students share their unique perspectives on why they liked being at Genesis so much and why they are looking forward to continuing at Xaverian.
Five Genesis students were asked if they considered other options for high school. All offered a resounding “no.”
“My mom really wanted me to look at other high schools. So did my dad. But I wanted to come here. I have a lot of people here that I care about,” said Saraye Jackson ’23, who hails from Canarsie. Her sentiments were echoed by other students, who said their middle school environment was like a big family. “We’re all so different, but we can all relate to each other. It makes you want to come back every day,” said Jackson.
“The teachers put us in group projects sometimes. It made us close,” said Declan McMahon ’23, from Bergen Beach. Extracurricular activities like intramural basketball, the LEGO Robotics Team and the frisbee team also brought Genesis middle schoolers closer together.
The challenging curriculum at Genesis was an excellent preparation for the academics of high school. Project-based learning requires that students work independently and demonstrate what they’ve achieved.
Many of the Seven Year Clippers had learned about Genesis from elder siblings or parents who had attended Xaverian. Daniel Nigro ’23 said his father, Daniel Nigro ’90, brought him to an open house. “That’s when I decided I wanted to come to Genesis,” he said. Dominick Balsamo ’94, father of Dominick Balsamo ’23 of Cobble Hill, is also an alumnus.
Ava Pontone ’23 of Rockaway heard about Genesis from her father, alumnus Andrew Pontone ’87. “I ended up loving it,” she said. “It was such a good experience.” Saraye Jackson’s brother, Ethan ’21, also influenced her decision to become a Clipper.
What’s lunch got to do with it?
Although Genesis students have their own dedicated state-ofthe-art facility, they often interact with upperclassmen going to and from classes, art, music and gym.
And then there’s lunch. “It’s the best lunch ever,” declared Balsamo. That may sound like hyperbole, but he is not the only Genesis student who was attracted to Xaverian by the lunchroom atmosphere.
McMahon knew from early on he wanted to go to Xaverian, so for him, Genesis was an intentional first step. With his eye already on staying at 7100 Shore Road, it was appealing to spend time with the older students. “In lunch, we have the high schoolers mixed in with us. So, you just hang out with them. You see how much fun they are having and you want to come here, too.”
“Everyone is so welcoming,” said Pontone. “When you walk in, everyone has a smile on their face.” Balsamo said that even walking around the building he would see students from the higher grades and get to know some of them. “You see what it’s like when you’re going to come here.”
“A lot of middle school students experience intense anxiety when they contemplate the move to high school. They don’t know what to expect. But Genesis students see examples of high school life every day, and it is a testament to the school’s culture that they like what they see and want to stay with us,” said Mrs. Martina DiPalma, Genesis’ newly appointed Dean.
Although the middle school students want to maintain the close ties they developed at Genesis, they are also eager to learn what high school has in store. They are excited about extracurriculars like sports, and look forward to forming new relationships.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new students and teachers, because for the next four years, that’s who I’m going to be with,” said Nigro. He added that things turned out so well at Genesis, he’s confident high school at 7100 Shore Road will be the same.
Robotics Robotics
Come January, it’s going be crunch time for the Brooklyn Blacksmiths, the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team of Xaverian High School. FIRST’s (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) mission is to motivate students to pursue opportunities in science and engineering. When build season gets underway in early 2020, FRC team members will tackle an enormous challenge: design, construct, program and test a working robot in just three months using a common set of rules and challenges.
“The management of time is really important to have a fully functioning robot,” said second-year team member Brenden Ngai ’22. The long hours in the robotics lab, after school and on weekends, are worth it. “What we have here are friends,” he said, pointing around the renovated STEM lab where the team works. “We have people who understand us, and we all work toward the central objective of building the robot.”
Robotics isn’t new to Xaverian. The school formed the FRC team in 2001, and for the past 18 seasons, the team worked under even tighter constraints — six weeks — for the FIRST robotics competition. The FIRST Lego League (FLL) launched in 2009 for middle school students in Genesis. STEM and Religion Teacher James Schreiner ’04, who has been involved in Xaverian robotics since its inception as a student, mentor and now faculty moderator, explained how the FLL came together. “We were selling toy robots to the Genesis students as a fundraiser,” he recalled. “The kids were pulling on our sleeves. They didn’t want to buy the robots. They wanted to learn robotics.”
Each year, the combined programs attract dozens of students. Sienna Santangelo ’25 was immediately drawn to Lego robotics when she arrived at Genesis in 2018. The seventh grader would often help her younger brother construct robots at home. “I like experimenting with programs and wanted to learn more about how robots work. I just think they’re really cool,” she said. Ngai was part of the FLL at a nearby public school before coming to Xaverian. “Growing up, I always had a knack for designing or building stuff,” he said. “When it comes to creativity, I’m not artistic. I can’t draw, but one thing I can do is build, and with robotics, I can really express my creativity.”
Sygnus X1, the robot built for the 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition, presented the perfect opportunity for Ngai’s creativity. The game’s theme, Destination: Deep Space, was a race among robots to place hatch panels on space vehicles and load cargo (dodge balls) for points, all within a few minutes. Ngai constructed the hatch grabber on Sygnus X1, which was instrumental in placing the panels and ensuring the cargo was securely stored. Robotics is often called “the ultimate sport for the mind,” and Mr. Schreiner has seen how it develops an array of capabilities in students. “We learn hard and soft skills,” he emphasized. “In addition to the technical engineering, students have to learn how to be team players, be accountable to others, communicate with teammates and represent Xaverian to the community.”
Santangelo was exposed to all that in her first year in the FLL. Part of the competition involved a research presentation to a panel of judges. “We decided to do a board game,” she said, noting that teammates had a lot of different ideas and had to achieve consensus on the rules and design of the game. Even at the FRC level, high schoolers work at a high level of cooperation because they can only build one robot. “Everyone has time to voice and explain why their idea is a good idea,” said Ngai. “We have to sift through those ideas and choose the one that could be good for us.”
Both students hope to tackle greater challenges in the coming year. Santangelo wants to learn more about programming robots as does Ngai, who hopes to gain proficiency in programming languages like Java, Python and C+. That expertise is needed, since complex programming was the domain of the upper classmen who graduated in 2019. “It’s kind of difficult, but I hope to learn how to code at least some of the robot,” said Ngai. “This way, the cycle can go on and on.”
The drive and enthusiasm of Xaverian’s robotics teams has kept Mr. Schreiner and many alumni involved in the program. “We would be sunk without our alumni,” said Mr. Schreiner. “They still have love for the team and want to have a hand in providing experiences and memories for the next generation.”
Media Matters Media Matters
Student-run broadcasts on WXBN, a new media initiative, capture the spirit and progress of Xaverian today.
The very first segment Tara McLoughlin ’20 recorded for WXBN: The Xaverian Broadcast Network was a lesson in humility. “I was so nervous,” recalled McLoughlin, who is co-anchor for the new student-run broadcast that brings school news, profiles, special interest features and sports to the Xaverian community. “It took nearly an hour to do a 20-second interview,” she recalled with a laugh.
Quickly, McLoughlin and a team of 15 young broadcasters learned every aspect of media production. During the inaugural season in 2018–19, the WXBN team produced 12 episodes in four months. “With each episode, the students did a better and better job of making it more professional,” said Greg DelGeorge, who serves as faculty moderator with Bill Daly. “They took the reins and have been doing a great job.”
Last year, the extracurricular club began with a single camera. The burgeoning program got a boost from NBC’s Technical Manager, Field Operations Joseph Caffrey P’22, who saw the first episode and wanted to help. He arranged a donation of cameras, tripods, lighting, teleprompters, audio equipment and accessories, and also volunteered to train the students and help them produce a full episode. Students are immersed in every aspect of media production, from the weekly pitch meeting held on Monday to plan each episode, to script writing, interviews, filming and the show’s final production on Friday.
Anchor Nick Salerno ’20 loves every minute of it. “We put a ton of work into every episode, but it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s something I look forward to every day.” In addition to gaining proficiency in all the technical aspects of media production, WXBN staffers discover new talents and develop skills they’ll carry throughout their lives.
“I’ve seen unbelievable growth among these students,” said Mr. DelGeorge, who also teaches physics and engineering. McLoughlin, for instance, said that before WXBN she would literally shake at the thought of having to speak in public. Now, she co-anchors a weekly program and can introduce a segment with a few prompts instead of reading a script. “I can talk in front of a group of people pretty comfortably,” she said. “My nervousness went down, and my confidence went up.”
Salerno said the experience helped him become a better communicator. “In the beginning we were writing all our scripts. We found if we put a general statement and added our own words together, the segment came out so much better.” Pitching stories, providing constructive feedback to classmates on ideas and time management were other skills he honed at WXBN. “Managing a time schedule was big,” Salerno explained. “At first it was tough. Even though we left school, the work carried over text messages throughout the night. We got better over time.”
With the first year under their belts, the students have high hopes for the sophomore season. McLoughlin hopes to recruit more female members to WXBN and expand coverage of extracurricular clubs. Salerno, who is interested in a career in media, plans to continue his role as producer, but also hopes to gain more experience in front of the camera. The WXBN team would love to receive feedback and ideas for future shows from Xaverian alumni. “We pour our hearts into it,” said McLoughlin. “We spend hours and hours recording each broadcast. We want it to be good and for people to enjoy it.”
To watch the student-produced broadcasts on WXBN, visit https://www.xaverian.org/wxbn. Email comments and ideas for episodes to communications@xaverian.org.
CLIPPERS ON THE LINE
For most radio show guests, a one-time appearance rarely turns into a long running gig. It did for Deacon Kevin J. McCormack, Principal of Xaverian High School, who cohosted Religion on the Line on the WABC Radio Network with Rabbi Joseph Potasnik for 12 years until the program ended in 2018. Each Sunday morning, the Rabbi and the Deacon discussed the religious, political and cultural topics of the day. During his long tenure as co-host, Dcn. McCormack invited Xaverian students on to the show. From 2016–2018, Clippers made regular appearances on Religion on the Line, offering their perspectives on the Church, Catholic education and other relevant topics. “Each student brought a confidence and freshness to the show,” said Dcn. McCormack. “It was good radio.”
Deacon McCormack is now a big fan of WXBN, the new student-run media initiative. “Radio is far more forgiving than television,” he said. “I think these kids knock it out of the park. They sell Xaverian and they do it in a wonderfully irreverent way.”
