Check out this amazing list of guests who have visited FHS this year, or will be coming this spring:

Blanca Vazquez, September 17, 2007
Ms. Vazquez is a long-time activist focusing on issues in the Puerto Rican/Latino community, and in areas of race and policing. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City, she holds a B.A. in Psychology from the City College of New York, a Master of Education from Richmond College, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. She is the founding editor of CENTRO, Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, CUNY. Since the fall of 2000, Ms. Vazquez has worked on the Viewing Race Project (http://www.viewingrace.org), a curated collection of films and videos that promotes dialogue on issues of race and ethnicity in US life. NVR recently compiled “After 9.11: Videos that Promote Knowledge, Understanding and Tolerance,” a collection geared for use by nonprofit and community organizations to address crucial issues the nation faces in the wake of the Sept. 11th attacks.

Terrence Roberts, October 29, 2007
At the age of fifteen, Terrence Roberts, along with eight other black teenagers, faced daily harassment to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. These courageous students became known to the nation as the Little Rock Nine. A graduate of California State University at Los Angeles (BA), and UCLA (MSW), Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in psychology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. He is now a professor in the Master's in Psychology Program at Antioch University. A much sought after speaker, Dr. Roberts also heads a management consultant group dedicated to improving human relations in the workplace. Since 1998 he has been the official desegregation consultant for the Little Rock, Arkansas School District, and provides similar services to school districts around the nation.

Linda Biehl, Mzikhona “Easy” Nofemela and Ntobeko Peni, February 6, 2008

Soledad O'Brien, March 7, 2008
Ms. O'Brien, an anchor and special correspondent for CNN: Special Investigations Unit, will be principal for a day.

Caroline Hunter, March 17, 2008
Ms. Hunter is a former Polaroid employee and member of the Fund for a Free South Africa who lead an effort to get Polaroid to divest from South Africa during aparthied.

David Burstein, April 7, 2008
David Burstein, an alumni of Facing History and Ourselves in his high school and a student at Haverford College, founded "18 in '08" to encourage young people to vote in the November elections.

Posted by Newsletter at 03:04 PM | Permalink

On February 7, 2008, FHS was honored to host Linda Biehl, Easy Nofemela and Ntobeko Peni. Linda is the mother of Amy Biehl, who was killed by a mob including Easy and Ntobeko while working South Africa during that country’s struggle to end apartheid. Linda visited FHS last year to speak to students, and many were very eager to see her again—her family’s decision to forgive Easy and Ntobeko and to begin working with them to support South Africa’s people was an unusual and challenging decision to understand. For the same reason, the opportunity to meet and hear from Easy and Ntobeko was also very exciting for the students.

Continue reading "South Africa: Linda Biehl, Easy Nofemela and Ntobeko Peni" »

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Dear Friends:

It is already winter of our third year here at FHS. I am writing to you just as the first semester student portfolio presentations are wrapping up, giving me the opportunity to reflect on the hard work that the FHS faculty are doing to support the amazing achievements of our students. As you will see from the articles and student work in this newsletter, our staff is dedicated to giving the FHS students rich educational experiences that help apply what they have learned to their everyday lives. It is a challenging, yet thoroughly exciting, endeavor that inspires us daily.

Continue reading "The Hard Work of Teaching and Learning" »

Posted by Newsletter at 07:23 PM | Permalink

by Susan Blum, Volunteer

One of the many wonderful aspects of the culture at the Facing History School is how welcoming and appreciative the faculty are of the many volunteers, interns, tutors, etc who come to work in their classrooms. Whether they are America Reads tutors from NYU, interns/student teachers from the various Schools of Education in the city, or volunteers through Facing History and Ourselves, every “outside” person has made and can continue to make a significant contribution to the quality of the school experience for both students and faculty. And in return, it is a joy to realize that any offer of assistance, that paying attention to individual needs of students, that the simple question, “May I help?” is so appreciated by faculty.

Continue reading "The Many Helping Hands at The Facing History School" »

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by Beth Lombardi, English Faculty

In our 9th grade Experiencing Literature class we read August Wilson’s play Fences. After completing the play, students wrote eulogies for the main character, Troy Maxson. We were a bit hesitant initially to ask students to take such a non-traditional writing assignment and truly attempt to engage themselves in the process. However, the students produced incredible results and their efforts were observed during the step-by- step process, as well as in their final products. The culminating event was an in-class funeral for Troy, during which students presented their eulogies.

Continue reading "Freshman Literature" »

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by Marty Sleeper, Associate Executive Director, Facing History and Ourselves

As a former school Principal, I have always believed that the most significant attribute of any school is that its students feel known as individuals. Nothing can be more distressing for a student in the school than to feel a sense of anonymity. But when the Principal greets students each day by name and with an engaging question or comment; when teachers, either in or outside of their classrooms recognize and engage the individual interests, talents, hopes and learning styles of their students; when every student feels there is at least one trusted adult in the school community to whom she can turn to voice a concern; such anonymity is dissolved and hence, it is these elements that are the best barometers of the health of the school community.

Two months ago, I made my first visit to the Facing History School as part of the annual Facing History and Ourselves Board retreat.

Continue reading "A word from Facing History and Ourselves" »

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Student leadership is off to a fantastic start in our 3rd year at FHS! This year each advisory group has elected a student representative to participate as senators in the student leadership group. In student leadership, these representatives use skills including communication, organization, time management and much more to host a series of events throughout the school year. Each event is planned, developed, and implemented by the students, who elect a project manager for their project and go through a series of steps in the “project pie” to create a successful project or event. Thus far, students have hosted two community lunches, a bake sale, the Grade Cycle 1 awards ceremony, a Halloween celebration, and our first annual Spirit Week.

Continue reading "Student Leadership Update" »

Posted by Newsletter at 07:31 PM | Permalink

Allison Milewski
Teacher, Photography II

In a recent Photography II class at Facing History High School, the students were debating the ethical and technical challenges inherent in documenting the disparity between rich and poor in New York City. Using vocabulary words from the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum as a starting point, the students created storyboard drawings of images that they would like to photograph for their Photo Essay assignment.

Daniel F. and Jenny S. prepare the equipment

Justina D., Suspense

Continue reading "Why Photography?" »

Posted by Newsletter at 07:29 PM | Permalink

by Daniel Braunfeld, Humanities Faculty

If you were to list which ancient civilizations are most commonly studied in New York City history classes, your list would most likely include some combination of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India, Greece and Rome. And well it should; these civilizations hold the keys to deciphering the origins of many of the world’s current religions, governments, languages and technology. But how do we open this ancient world to the minds of our students? How do we explain to adolescents the importance of a civilization that no longer exists? How do we help students make this history their own? This semester, we found our answers buried just below the surface of New York City’s skyscrapers and restaurants.

The humanities department at the Facing History School began its study of ancient civilizations with an in depth look at life in the school’s local neighborhood – Hell’s Kitchen, NYC.

Continue reading "Student Historians Explore a Diamond’s Hidden Rough" »

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